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Washington Evening Journal
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St. James holds fall festival
WASHINGTON — A crowd turned out to KC Hall in Washington Sunday afternoon for a meal, activities and an auction that made up the St. James Fall Festival, the church’s biggest fundraiser of the year for its private school.
“We all think that our little Catholic school is really important to all of our hearts and all of the students that attend,” said Event Chair Katie Vittetoe. “So we have multiple generations of people trying to keep it going.”
Vittetoe said the church had served 500-600 meals for the event, raising a sizable portion of its $65,000 goal before bidding began for the auction. School officials said fundraising totals for the day were not yet available as of Monday morning.
Among the most popular — and unusual — items were truckloads of firewood, a long-standing tradition of the church’s annual auction.
“The wood sales have always been big,” Vittetoe said. “A bunch of people get together before the auction and then split it up and put it into these separate wagons for everybody. It’s donated from around the community.”
Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com
A tent full of St. James Fall Fest attendees bid on various items in a fundraiser auction. Featured products ranged from office furniture to gift cards to bottle of wine to truck loads of wood. (Kalen McCain/The Union)
Trailers full of firewood outside KC Hall in Washington make some of the hottest auction items every year at the St. James Fall Festival. (Kalen McCain/The Union)
