The Boys & Girls Club of Greeneville & Greene County sold out their 26th annual Celebrity Auction on Saturday, August 9th and the big crowd was just the start for a huge night for the organization. The auction was a tremendous success, topping $94,000 to become the most successful event the organization has ever held. The event raised over $94,000 for the local Boys & Girls Club’s activities and programs. The auction featured over seven hundred items that ranged from vacation packages, meals at area restaurants, business certificates and items, to memorabilia and autographs from the world of sports, politics, music, TV, movies, notables, and many other unique items.
“We had a big crowd, great food and a lot of items to bid on this year in both the live and silent auction,” stated Eddie Yokley, a board member, and the co-chairman of this year’s event along with Rebecca Tipton. Several bidders in attendance stated that they were surprised at how the Boys & Girls Club was able to get so many unique and autographed items each year. This year’s event show-cased a wide array of distinctive items, ensuring there was something for everyone.
This year’s event was title sponsored by Greeneville Federal Bank and Summers Taylor. The other major sponsors of this year’s event included: John Deere Power Products, Martin Marietta, McCoy Construction & Forestry, Modern Woodman, Stowers Machinery, Vulcan Materials, Austin Powder/US Nitrogen, Greeneville Energy Authority, Petro Services, Power Equipment, Rogers Manufacturing, Silicon Ranch and Tri-City Rubber & Gasket.
The top selling item for the evening came from John Deere Power Products. The John Deere S110 riding lawn mower was a big hit and right behind it was a Bad Boy zero turn riding mower donated by Michael & Frances Sauls. Two other hot items were a Solo Stove Yukon Fire Pit with Surround donated by TA & Carla Bewley and a Blackstone 30-inch grill with care kits donated by Lowes Home Center. Tennessee Volunteer football and basketball ticket packages donated by Dr. Daniel Lewis were big sellers with games against Georgia, LSU, and Texas A&M among the many opponents available for the home games sold at the event.
Other top items included a Foreign Bank notes binder donated by Dr. Chris Bullington, Jason Witten “Dallas Cowboys” autographed football jersey, Tony Vitello “Tennessee Volunteers” autographed baseball bats, balls, newspapers and posters, a vacation package at the Jade East Towers donated by Newman-Daily Resort Properties in Destin, Florida, Wyndham Resort Packages donated by Dr. Daniel Lewis, several JaKobi Gillespie & Nate Ament “Tennessee Volunteers” autographed basketballs and hats, a full page ad in The Greeneville Sun, a book of foreign coins donated by Dr. Bullington, a Detroit Tigers baseball signed by Tarik Skubal, Javier Bae, Riley Greene, AJ Hinch, Trey Sweeney and several members of the 2025 team donated by Lincoln Bowman, a Guitar signed by various members of The Beach Boys, Kansas, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Alison Krauss & Union Station and Edwin McCain donated by Jeff & Christy Ward, an American flag made by Lolli & Pops Creations, a South Pointe Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada vacation package, 1890 Carson City Morgan Silver Dollar donated by Dr. Chris Bullington, Tyrese Haliburton “Indiana Pacers” autographed City Connect Edition NBA jersey, a Jasmine guitar from Gosnell’s Music & Stereo, Tennessee Volunteers cornhole boards & bean bags donated by Gary Garner, Homewood Suites by Hilton in Clearwater, Florida vacation package, Homewood Suites by Hilton in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida vacation package, a set of rocking chairs from Food City, original oil framed canvas paintings by Joe Kilday, Gale Sayers “Chicago Bears” autographed NFL football donated by Sports Treasures in Knoxville, Civil War solider framed tintype donated by Dr. Chris Bullington, Taylor Swift Red Football Jersey, Golf Package to Link Hills Country Club in Greeneville, vacation stay at the Tuckaleechee Retreat Center in Townsend, John Smoltz “Atlanta Braves” autographed baseball jersey, Nolichucky Bluffs Bed & Breakfast Cabins vacation stay, a Tennessee Volunteers basketball autographed by JaKobi Gillespie, Nate Ament, JP Estrella, Cade Phillips & Campbell Duncan, and a Chipper Jones “Atlanta Braves” autographed MLB baseball.
Scott Bullington, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club stated that he wanted to thank the wonderful board members of the Boys & Girls Club, the Celebrity Auction committee, and volunteers for pulling together this effort that made the auction a huge success. “We could not achieve our continued successes for our events without the efforts of these individuals. We are truly fortunate to have such a caring group to support our community’s youth,” stated Bullington. He also stated that the organization was extremely fortunate to get so many items in the mail from celebrities, businesses, and organizations from across the country and beyond. He was also thankful for the tremendous support that the organization receives throughout the community. “You can tell that the people of our region care about kids,” he added.
In addition to the title sponsors of the event Greeneville Federal Bank and Summers Taylor other major sponsors included: John Deere Power Products, Martin Marietta, McCoy Construction & Forestry, Modern Woodman, Stowers Machinery, Vulcan Materials, Austin Powder/US Nitrogen, Greeneville Energy Authority, Petro Services, Power Equipment, Rogers Manufacturing, Silicon Ranch and Tri-City Rubber & Gasket.
Events such as the Celebrity Auction help to fund the local Boys & Girls Club activities and staffing. . For more information on the Boys & Girls Club, stop by at 740 West Church Street, or call 787-9322 or 787-9334 or visit the Club’s Facebook page or the Club website at www.ggcbgc.org. To see additional pictures from this year’s event, visit the Club’s Facebook page.
