CONWAY Old-fashioned fun

RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — It’s hard for many people to resist a cute puppy or new car, and this year’s organizers of the St.

Joseph School Bazaar are counting on that to help make money for the Catholic school.

The 98th annual St. Joseph School Bazaar will be Friday, Aug. 6, and Saturday, Aug. 7, at the private school in downtown Conway. As always, there will be an old-fashioned midway on the grounds Friday and a dinner, and Saturday will feature live and silent auctions, as well as the raffle for a new vehicle. This year the grand prize is a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, second prize is a laptop computer, and third prize is $250.

Erika Stobaugh, co-chairwoman of the auction, said the fundraiser is vital to the school.

“Everything goes to help the school - this is our big, major fundraiser,” she said. “We don’t get anything from the state.” The midway, which is Aug. 6 only, opens at 6 p.m. with games such as a cake walk, a fish pondand bingo. Concessions, such as hamburgers, will be available.

Jane Nabholz, chairwoman of the auction, said the midway will remain open “however long the crowd is there.” An all-you-can-eat dinner of homemade spaghetti noodles and marinara sauce, fried chicken, sauerkraut, pork and salad will be served from 5-8 p.m. Aug. 6 in the St. Joseph Parish Hall, 1118 College Ave. The cost is $10 for adults, age 12 and older, and $5 for children ages 6 to 11. Kids 5 and younger may eat free.

The flea market on the grounds will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 5, before the bazaar; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 6; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 7.

On Aug. 7, the highlights of the day will be live and silent auctions and the raffle drawing for the vehicle, which will occur at the end of the night.

The doors to the Parish Hall will open at 6 p.m., and the event is billed as for adults only. Heavyhors d’oeuvres will be available, and the silent auction will be from 6:30-8:30. The live auction will start at 8:45.

Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door.

The live auction came about a few years ago when the bishop banned bingo and all raffles, and then chairwoman Lori Ross threw together an auction at the last minute.

It was so successful, it became part of the bazaar.

Stobaugh expects one of the more popular items on the live-auction list this year to be a 6-week-old Shih Tzu male puppy, which comes with “everything you’d need for a new puppy,” she said, including a certificate for spaying or neutering.

Each class at St. Joseph Catholic School, from preschoolers to seniors, donated money and came up with an idea for a basket to auction. The fifth-graders decided on a dog-themed basket, Stobaugh said.

“That evolved into, OK, let’s try to get a puppy to go with it,” she said, and one was donated.

Nabholz said a signed Taylor Swift electric guitar is expected to generate excitement in the silent auction.

The guitar won’t arrive until a few days before the event, and the starting bid will be $1,000, she said.

Although that may seem steep, Nabholz said “no one knows where her career’s going to take her” and how much the singer’s memorabilia will rise in value.

“We know there are a lot of people who really, really like that young lady,” Nabholz said.

Nabholz said another popular package every year is a murder-mystery dinner for 12 provided by Marla and David Hambuchen.

“Everybody likes that murder-mystery dinner,” she said. E-mails are sent to winners prior to the evening “so you’ll know what character you’ll be in,” Nabholz said, and can plan a costume. A limo picks up the participants and takes them home.

“Everybody who’s ever won that one has had a really good time,” Nabholz added.

If those items don’t float your boat, how about a handmade wooden canoe?

Nabholz said her brotherin-law, Tim Nabholz of Conway, and several men made two 16-foot-long canoes out of pine.

Tim Nabholz said the sixmonth project started during a winter snow.

“A group of neighbors had gathered at the Nabholz farm shop to warm up by the stove,” he said. “As it got later and boredom took over, the subject came up about canoe building.”

Three of the men involved - Lucas Strack of Little Rock and Brian and Sam Strack, both of Conway - had built canoes before.

“We were always envious of it,” Tim said of the canoes.

“A lot of us aren’t true craftsmen,” Tim said, adding that Lucas Strack is skilled, so they followed his lead.

Tim said the wood for the canoes came from a 60-inchdiameter pine tree in Lockesburg, Ark.

He helped a friend harvest the tree two or three years prior to this project and kept a portion of the wood.

“I had no plans,” he said.

The canoes are made from 3/8-inch-by-1-inch strips of wood, glued together on a form and sanded. Although they look like pieces of art, the vessels have clear fiberglass covers to protect them and make them last, Tim said.

The caning on the canoe seats was done by “the Strack boys,” he added.

In addition to offering his shop for the project, Tim joked that his contribution was “as little as possible.”

“I’m the cleanup man, sanding and carving,” he said.

Others who worked on the canoes include Marty Strack, Jonathan Strack, David Strack, Robert Ross, Natalie Ross, John Nabholz, Jeremy Nabholz, John Nabholz, Matt Nabholz, David Nabholz and Nathan Howse.

Tim said they all learned something about making canoes.

“You should not ever make one out of pine - it’s a lot harder to do. It’s harder to bend - very hard,” he said, laughing.

One canoe will be offered in the live auction, but the other will be raffled, Jane Nabholz said.

“That’ll be fun, and what’s so nice about that, we want everybody to have an equal chance,” she said.

Tickets - $2 each - for the canoe, as well as for a grill and $500 in cash, will be sold Friday night in the midway and at the auction Saturday.

Raffle tickets for the car are $2 each and may be purchased in the midway or prior to the bazaar at several locations, including the St. Joseph Endowment Office or parish office, both on College Avenue, or at any of three Model Cleaners locations. Auction tickets may be purchased at the endowment office or parish office.

Other live-auction items include an authentic Italian spaghetti dinner and the trimmings for eight to 10 couples at the Lieblong Farm. Live entertainment will be provided for three hours after the dinner for an additional 30 to 50 friends.

The list also includes “the ultimate deer stand,” a diamond-and-sapphire ring, a round of golf for four with Father John Marconi, a pottery party that includes a Cajun dinner, the weekend use of a party barge, a week’s stay at a six-bedroom home on Greers Ferry Lake, a University of Central Arkansas tailgating package and an overnight limo trip to Tunica, Miss., for up to eight people.

“We tried to vary our liveauction items a little bit this year, just to keep it fresh,” Nabholz said.

People who attend the live auction shouldn’t expect to walk away for cheap, though.

“Most of the time there will be two or three people who get pretty competitive,” Nabholz said.

People often get together to share the cost.

“It’s a group that’s going to buy the murder-mystery dinner,” she said. “That’s why we advertise the live-auction items ahead of time, so people can get their groups together.

“People remember this is a major fundraiser for their school,so they’re very, very generous.”

More information is available at www.stjosephconway. org.

- tkeith@ arkansasonline.com