Rachel & I went to the annual MCC Relief Sale in Rocky Ford, Colorado this past weekend (Friday and Saturday). It’s for a good cause. Our sister-in-law Deanna was running the Ten Thousand Villages booth (actually a small building within the Rocky Ford fairgrounds), and so we decided to be there to help out. It was our second time in two years. They needed help unpacking and setting up various home décor and crafts items to be sold. These are items handcrafted by people in various countries around the world. The money pays these folks a living wage, and in return, we make a little bit of money to be added to the relief effort.
I can’t claim credit for a lot of work, but we helped out for a day. Deanna and her husband Calvin did a lot even before this weekend. A lot of people did more than we did, but we contributed and it all helps. I think Deanna appreciated having the help. Last year was particularly difficult. This time, we had more help and the work went faster.
The main part of the sale is the auction, which raises the bulk of the money from the event. Various items are donated and then auctioned off. The sale stated off with a brief prayer and then the first item auctioned was a loaf of handmade bread. It went for $1850 and then we immediately donated back to be auctioned off by the slide.
The next two buyers bought a slice of bread and a jar of apple butter. The price was $525 each buyer. I lost track of what the other slices went for, but the loaf of bread raised over $3200 in total. It was a great start to the auction.
Various items were sold in the auction, but the higher ticket items are typically the quilts. That’s what everyone waits to see. My father-in-law bought three of them, and I believe one of my brothers-in-law also bought three.
Calvin donated beef and pork for the sale. He had it processed and then loaded freezers (which he also had to round up and haul to the sale) packed full to be sold off. This stuff luckily goes pretty fast. Rachel & I bought $100 worth went the sale started Friday evening at 17:00.
Among items sold besides things at the auction or at Ten Thousand Villages, were hamburger meat, sausage, pies, apple butter, apple cider, cakes, cookies, various potted plants, handmade craft items, nuts, fruit, ice cream, soda pop, sausage sandwiches, you-name-it; all proceeds going towards the total relief fund.
I took lots of photographs during the weekend. Some were on the way to Rocky Ford and some were on the way home. Some were on Calvin and Deanna’s farm, most were at the sale. Some were family and/or friends. Some were of total strangers. I hopefully got some good ones out of the weekend.
Rachel & I took a different route home so that we could avoid some construction on the road between Lamar, Colorado and Boise City, Oklahoma. In retrospect, it still would’ve been faster if we’d stuck to that route, but we drove east through Kansas instead. It was a fun drive, but it took longer and it wore us out. I’m still recovering.
We drove through Greensburg, Kansas, that was virtually wiped out by an EF5 tornado May 4, 2007. http://www.kansas.com/static/
We remembered driving through Greensburg many times in the past, and what we saw was devastation not unlike that of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. We had heard of a lot of “green” rebuilding, but we didn’t see it. I guess if we’d driven around town more we might’ve seen it, but we stayed on the main road through town and never saw anything we recognized except for a tire storage building that seemed to have weathered the storm due to its rounded shape and low profile.
Most of my photos of Greensburg didn’t come out well as I was shooting from a moving vehicle and had a slow shutter speed. It was a bit of a disappointment, but most disappointing is not seeing any signs of the “green building” efforts. We saw lots of prefab temporary buildings, including those used as the town hospital. About the only thing we recognized was the high school, that somehow managed to remain after the storm.
I could go on about Greensburg, but there’s no point. We do hope to return when there’ll be more signs of progress in the rebuilding efforts.
We drove through Dodge City, which is where my brother-in-law Bob and his family live. I photographed some earth homes just west of Dodge, and a bit disappointed that the photographs weren’t better. Somehow, the camera was set on that slow shutter speed and it really impacted my photo efforts. If we hadn’t been in the car, I would’ve probably spent more efforts in making sure my camera settings were better.
We drove through Harper, Kansas, which Rachel has some family history there. Her family lived there for a while, and her brother Bob built and lived in a geodesic dome (in a tree row on the farm)(with a dirt floor) which still stands today. Most photos taken in Harper didn’t come out well because of car movement and slow shutter speed. I did get a photo of a pretty church just east of town. Somehow, that came out better, although not pristine.
Despite my photography mistakes on the way home, I had great photographic success in Rocky Ford, and so from a photography perspective, I considered it a success. I hope to return to Greensburg and Harper in the future. I hope it won’t be a distant future. (See http://www.flickr.com/photos/les_stockton/sets/)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/les_stockton/sets/72157608187289572/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/les_stockton/sets/72157608195740787/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/les_stockton/sets/72157608189035696/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/les_stockton/sets/72157608189035706/
On the way to Rocky Ford, we passed a wind farm west of Ft. Supply, and then we found another north of Springfield, Colorado (if I remember right). We briefly stopped to change drivers and I noticed a truck that had a couple of blades on its trailer that it was obviously hauling to the wind farm. I managed to get a couple of good photographs (just for fun). Seeing these on the ground, before they’re lifted into the air, you see how truly large these wind turbines can be. On the ground, these blades seem huge.
Oh, a side-note: if you’re ever in Boise City, Oklahoma, try to get some of No Man’s Land Beef Jerky. I normally got the hottest stuff I can, but in this case, the mild has such a fantastic flavor. I recommend this jerky. It is the best that I have found, other than what we occasionally make at home. They have a website and it can be ordered on-line if you can’t find it in a local store. I do know it’s available in Boise City because we bought some and thoroughly enjoyed it. (http://www.nmlbeefjerky.com/)
There is another MCC Sale scheduled in early November. This one will be in Enid, Oklahoma and we are actually considering attending this one. We have so many things going on, that I’m not sure if we can work it in, but we’d like to go.
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