District VII
Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Hello, once again, District VII members. I hope you have all enjoyed a glimpse of the warm weather we have had. It did get cold briefly, but the warmth has my fingers twitching, ready to get my hands on the radio and recall moving the sticks in the correct direction, lest I have an oops!
One thing that signals the upcoming season is the many swap meets that occur. Ken Weddell, Twin City Radio Controllers (TCRC) club secretary, sent in the report of the club’s event, held February 3, 2024. I will let Ken take it away!
On Saturday, February 3, 2024, TCRC held our 47th Annual Auction. It is the largest event in the upper Midwest, and we have buyers and sellers from five states and Canada. The auction is at Cross Pointe Church in Bloomington, a suburb of Minneapolis.
Club members set up the church for the auction on Friday evening, and sellers are waiting with their RC items before we open the doors at 6:45 a.m. Items are tagged and entered into our computer system before the club stores it for sale.
At 9:05, the first item was for sale. We have a professional auctioneer and RC flier who helps us with his talents. It is amazing! Airplanes, engines, radios, kits, and building supplies were auctioned off.
There was also an area with a silent auction of high-quality airplanes. We had a bargain table with items priced from $5 to $30, and the minimum auction bid was $20. TCRC also had a raffle for a Balsa USA Cub kit for $5 a ticket with a limit of 100 tickets. We give away eight airplanes to non-club members throughout the day.
No one can be expected to go without food, and the TCRC concession area was close enough to continue bidding. It had coffee and doughnuts early and sub sandwiches, chips, cookies, and drinks later. When buyers were ready to leave, we used the auctioneer’s professional software to speed the checkout procedure and TCRC runners got the sold items from the storage rooms in the church. Finally, we restored the church to its normal condition at the end of the day. On Sunday, the sellers’ checks were written and in the mail Monday morning.
Some statistics: 572 items were sold—an average of one item every 45 seconds. There were fewer than 20 items that did not receive a bid. We had 194 bidders and 86 sellers. The highest-priced item was a beautiful, large Stuka that sold for $950. Nine items sold for more than $500. More than 500 items sold for less than $100.
We had 50 TCRC members and friends work to help us put on the auction. There is no way to do something like this without many people helping. This is TCRC’s major fundraiser. It has allowed us to own our flying field in Jordan, Minnesota.
Thank you very much, Ken, for the report. It sounds as though this was one well-organized and well-attended event. I will have to try to visit next year, but with all of the great items, my wallet might hate me!
Until next month, get those fingers loosened up and be ready to enjoy the fresh air, friends, and, most of all, watching your creations dance in the spacious sky.
