Bidding to Help : Santa Clarita Valley Turns Out to Give Youngsters a Hand at Boys and Girls Club Auction

It is the event of the Santa Clarita Valley social season. In fact, some say it is the only event of the Santa Clarita Valley social season.

In any case, the annual Boys and Girls Club Auction has become an institution in this bedroom community, raising more money in a few hours than some charities collect in a year. The 1987 auction grossed $275,000. Organizers were still tallying the pledges from this year’s auction, held Saturday. The pledges have passed the $300,000 mark, said Joseph Schillaci, Magic Mountain president.

Why is the auction so successful? Schillaci, this year’s auction chairman, said the valley’s high community spirit makes it all possible.

Wide Variety of Items

Some people say the event’s biggest draw is the wide variety of donated auction items. Valley residents have bid on vacations to Hong Kong, antique silver asparagus tongs, carrousel horses, a portable toilet, hot air balloon rides, orthodontic services, trips to offshore oil platforms, custom-made suits, fine wines, parachute jumps, an ivory and rosewood Weber Square Grand Piano built in 1870, and breast implants.

Moreover, the auction gives Santa Clarita Valley residents a night on the town that does not require driving 35 miles south to Los Angeles. On Saturday, about 1,500 people attended the auction at CalArts--the only place in town big enough to hold the event--and the parking lot included a few Rolls-Royces and limousines. Some men donned tuxedos and many women wore elegant evening gowns covered with sequins.

“It’s the social event of the year,” said Santa Clarita City Councilwoman Jan Heidt, shortly after purchasing six chickens and a pygmy goat for $125.

“This is the place to be tonight,” said a smiling Alan Barbakow, an orthodontist who has auctioned off orthodontic work in the past.

“That tells you what there is to do out here,” said one woman, who asked that her name not be used. “You didn’t hear that.”

The auction began 17 years ago with hopes of raising a few extra dollars for the Boys and Girls Club, said Anthony Newhall, publisher of The Signal, the local newspaper, and one of the event’s founding organizers. The first auction had 72 items (this year’s had more than 800) and raised about $4,600, he said. Today, the auction supplies 60% of the club’s operating budget.

Newhall said auction organizers try to offer exotic items that cannot be bought elsewhere. Television and movie stars have donated original scripts, props or costumes for sale. Some elected officials--the City Council, for example--offer to prepare a meal for the highest bidder.

One of the more popular items this year was “Dine with Mike,” a chance to have lunch with Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich. The bidding started at $5 but quickly rose to a winning $250. Baxter Ward, or at least someone who signed his name on a bidding sheet, pledged $200. Ward is Antonovich’s opponent in the November election.

Bid of $33,000

Newhall said the highest bid ever recorded at the auction was about $33,000 for 40 acres of mountain land. A few years ago, a man bid $600 for a vasectomy. There was no vasectomy this year, but a veterinarian did offer spay and neutering services.

A Placerita Canyon couple, Randy and Susan Armour, bid $1,050 Saturday to name a new street in one of the valley’s mushrooming housing developments. A year earlier, they bid $900 to have a developer name a street after their first child, Aja Leigh, now 16 months. The development has yet to be built but Randy Armour said Aja Leigh Lane has a nice ring to it.

The Armours are expecting their second child so they returned to the auction to buy another street. Asked if they planned more children, Susan Armour said jokingly: “We’ll have a whole tract.”