Deals and steals at WinterFest raffle, silent auction

This year’s WinterFest Silent Auction and Raffle benefits Mountain Alliance, an adventure and leadership program for high school age youth in Watauga County.

It will be held in the Blowing Rock School cafeteria (beside the chili cookoff) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26.

You will be able to pay for and pick up your items between 4 and 5:30 p.m. Those planning to paticiapte should bring cash or checkbook.

Mountain Alliance serves 120 to 170 youth annually, offering several trips per week, after school and on weekends. These trips are provided by trained staff at no cost to students. They perform community service, in addition to having the adventures of a lifetime: backpacking, hiking, camping, rock climbing, caving, mountain biking, and all sorts of outdoor activities. For more information, visit http://www.mountainalliance.org.

Mountain Alliance has more than $15,000 of items in the silent auction and raffle. Raffle tickets will be on sale for $1 each. Silent auction packages include: week-long stays in Sunset Beach and Emerald Isle condos, a two-night getaway at the Banner Elk Winery & Villa, fly-fishing and sporting clays packages at the Biltmore Estate, a group cooking lesson with Tina Houston of Reid’s Catering, and behind the scene tours of Grandfather Mountain. Paintings by area artists Kevin Baker and Jay Winston will also be auctioned.

Other items include lodging packages from many High Country inns and hotels, as well as gift certificates for local restaurants. Check out the official WinterFest guide in The Mountain Times’ sister publication, The Blowing Rocket, for a more detailed list.

Get fit and healthy with golf outings, massages, horseback riding, rolfing, a Calloway Chiropractic visit and custommade orthotics from Boone Podiatry. Ski tickets and gear will be auctioned, and participants will be able to bid on many other family activities, including a Blowing Rock pool pass, rafting, gem mining, fishing and canoeing.

Tickets to Dollywood, MerleFest, Linville Caverns, the Asheboro Zoo and more will be available for fun on and off the mountain.

Local craftsmen have donated hand-crafted items and local merchants have donated many great items.

And last, but not least, folks may bid on services offered all over the High Country: a simple will estate package from Andrea Capua Esq. and other services from Boone Bike & Touring, Studio M, Appalachian Music Shoppe, Blue Ridge Vet Clinic, Blue Ridge Vision and Dr. Adam Hill.

There will be more than 200 items available for auction or raffle. This year, for the larger valued items, bidders will be able to put in a sealed maximum bid, so they can spend more time in town and still increase their chances of winning. Check out the Winterfest Official Guide for a more comprehensive list of donors.

For more information, call Tammie Jolly at Rustic at (828) 295-9033, or email (tjolly@rusticnc.com)