Hope Lions Auction

The 74th annual Hope Lions Club Christmas Auction was a big success this past weekend.  The auction, held Nov. 30th, Dec. 1st, and 2nd, raised $37,697.50.  This amount rates among the best ever for the club.

The auction was conceived by Lion and Former Hope Football Coach Foy Hammons in 1950 as a way to raise funds to purchase food baskets for needy families at Christmas.  The first auction raised $800 and was held in the studios of Hope’s new radio station, KXAR.  The club had so much fun on the air that spectators began to crowd the studio.  The auction then moved uptown to the lobbies of Hope’s two banks.  Each bank would host the auction on alternate years.  Finally, the auction began to tax the bank facilities and moved first to the Fair Park Community Center and then to the Coliseum.  The event remains popular and both Lions and audience members reported having fun while raising money for a good cause.  The Lions will use the funds to purchase about 125 Christmas baskets and any left-over money goes towards the club’s community projects.