Auction nets more than $4,000 for Troup Scholarship Fund

Senior Chelsea Hartman above watches the first of three Tiger prints go to the high bidder. At right are some pentunia plants grown by the s c h o o l ' s h o r t i c u l t u r e students and sold at the auction.

Monday's art auction benefiting the Troup Academic Booster Club was a resounding success, with proceeds from the sale of paintings, drawings, crafts, plants and other student-created works earning $4,175 for the scholarship fund.

This was the second year of the auction, the brainchild of Supt. Marvin Beaty who had instilled similar events at previous schools. With Beaty as auctioneer, bids from the audience in the high school auditorium surpassed last year's take of $2,200.

Five of the entries in this year's auction each brought $200 or more.

High school student Chelsea Hartman contributed two beautiful "Tiger" prints with Dewayne Brown purchasing one and Zavalla's Pizza, the other. Art instructor Pamela Starkey's two drawings of Jake Johnson and Drew Marshall were purchased by Renee Stovall and Kathleen Marshall respectively. Austin Townsend's "Cross" print also brought $200 and went to Katherine Townsend.

Cash Davison's "Horseshoe Lamp" purchased by Lissa Lindsey, Barbie Womack's "Birdhouse" purchased by Jill Womack, and another "Tiger" print by Miss Hartman were purchased by Patty Hartman and brought $140-150 each in the bidding process.

Over 75 entries found many community members bidding up to the last "going once, going twice" making the event a great success. (See additional photos, page 6B)

The young artists came down front while their works were up for bid, although most were too shy to discuss them. Dewey Childress started the auction off on a good note with this cross. Austin Townsend's drawing of a cross drew more than $200. Cash Davison displays his top-selling horseshoe lamp. One young artist wasn't shy and described his drawing of the fastest car in the world to the auction audience.