Going once, going twice ...
Auction serves as finale to summer reading program

A large crowd turned out for the Whitehouse library's annual rewards auction, signaling the end of the summer reading program. Participants in the program earn "Library Bucks" and use them at the auction to purchase prizes.

If you drove by the Whitehouse Community Library on Saturday, you would have seen lots of cars and a bunch of happy children and parents.

Saturday saw the conclusion of the fifth annual prize auction for the Texas Summer Reading Program.

Hundreds of dollars of prizes were bid on with special "Library Bucks" by about 40 children. Readers earned their "Library Bucks" by completing the reading program, tracking their reading and turning in their logs.

Volunteers worked hard counting the number of pages read and calculating the readers' spending money, according to library director Sandra Knackstedt.

Prizes ranged from large Pirates of the Caribbean play sets and Game of Life, Cars DVD, Barbie dolls, CD players, snow cone machines and much, much more. The bidding action was fierce but friendly.

The top readers were Savannah Reeves (age group 7-10), Macy Maxwell (age group 3-6), and Mason Cole (age group 11-14). A total of 45 children completed the summer reading program and received certificates.

The rest of our winners, those completing the reading program, were: Austin, Dylan and Tommy Acker; Ameri and Sydney Boulter; Kaleb and Sadie Brown; Emily and Marshall Cameron; Jaycie Chambless, Michael Chandler, Clayton and Mason Cole; Eliza and Raymond Delgado; Aidan Hagler, Charlotte, Janna and Juliana Jones; Jared Keels, Osaid and Ozair Khan; Abbie, Betsie, Kaitie and Meagan Killian; Christopher Knight, Macy Maxwell, Dustin, Nicolas and Samantha Means; Andrew and Joanna Moran; Samuel, Sarah and Savannah Reeves; Ben, Jacob and Ryan Sonne; Brett Spivey; Reannon Thornton.

The library staff would like to thank the following sponsors for making this auction possible: Southside Bank, Mr. and Mrs. Dan Sterling, Mr. and Mrs. Nick Sciarrini, The Medicine Shop, Goolsbee Tires, SLLE Management, Brookshire's, Conaway and Sons, Quality Lumber, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Tyler RV Center and Wal-Mart.