Minden St. Jude Auction blows by $1M
The Minden St. Jude Auction made history Sunday evening by blowing the top off their 2012 goal and bringing in more than $1,065,000 for children's cancer research.
And it all happened on the 50th anniversary of the founding of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by Danny Thomas.
To make the occasion even more historic, Pete Treat, the man who kicked off the very first event in Minden 36 years ago, was on-hand to see the huge group of volunteers surpass their million-dollar goal.
Treat lost his five-year-old daughter, Anne, to Leukemia 36 years ago. She was hospitalized at St Jude Children's Research Hospital. When she died, Treat came back to his hometown with a heavy heart.
"I don't know why I did it," Treat said of starting the auction. "It just seemed like what I needed to do at the time. I wanted to pay them (St. Jude) back, I suppose. They were so good to Anne."
Treat admits the auction has come a long way from simply broadcasting on KASO Radio, to cable television and now streaming live on the Internet.
In 1962, Treat started the event with the help of KASO Radio owners Bo Cook and M.S. "Digger" O'Dell, who donated the air time, and Pat Culverhouse, a part-time KASO disc jockey, who was on the air with Treat.
But he never thought he would see the day it would bring in $1 million.
"Well, we always had great hopes," Treat said. "The first year we made $10,000. We were ecstatic when we made $100,000.
"This has been a wonderful thing," he continued. "I'm so proud of Minden, I just can't tell you."
Minden St. Jude Auction co-chairs Melissa Brown and Christie Ruple said they knew Saturday they would probably make their goal.
"We sold more grand prize tickets this year," Brown said. "They sold so well. We could see the top of the mountain."
Technology has made the difference, they said, bringing in auction bids and raffle donations from all over the country and even one from Australia.
"Last year, I think we did $126,000 on the Internet," Ruple said "At one point today (Sunday) I think we were up to $175,000."
"I knew we were going to do it," said auction volunteer Cora Lou Robinson. "I just felt it the whole time."
View a list of all St. Jude winners at www.mindenstjude.com.
All prize winners are asked to come to the Minden Civic Center as early as possible today to pick up prizes.
