Roaring 20’s Silent Auction and Dinner

Staff and volunteers are scampering about getting everything ready for the annual silent auction and dinner at the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum in Stevenson March 9. This year’s theme is “A Night to Remember the Roaring Twenties,” with many people already planning their 1920s costumes and accessories.

Tickets are $40 per person before March 5, $50 on or after March 5. Reserved tables are $400.

“This is our primary fundraiser of the year,” said Executive Director Sharon Tiffany. “And this one should be especially fun. The committee plans to turn this place into a rollicking speakeasy, complete with flappers, good jazz, and maybe even a bottle or two of bootlegged hooch.”

Plans for the evening include a catered dinner by Skamania Lodge, complete with potlatch salmon, chef-carved turkey, roasted potatoes and more, and including a selection of the Lodge’s popular desserts. Setting the jazzy mood will be Mark J and the Too Much band, back by popular demand. Sternwheeler captain Tom Cramblett is on tap to be the emcee, and the lodge will man a no-host bar.

The museum expects to collect more than 150 items to auction off. Traditionally the list ranges from cords of wood to fine art and jewelry to boxes of apples and overnight stays. “The business community in the Gorge and even Portland and Vancouver is amazingly generous,” said Cloida Peyrollaz, a member of the committee and also a board member at the museum. She has been on the auction committee for more than 10 years, and is usually responsible for gathering a large number of contributions. “It’s a fun project for a deserving institution. The businesses that donate have a way to show their support for the museum, and get some good solid advertising to boot.” The museum attracts more than 23,000 visitors to the area every year. They come from across the country, Canada, and around the world.

Donations will be accepted up to March 6, and tickets are available now. They can be purchased by phoning the museum at 509-427-8211 or 1-800-991-2338. Tickets are $40 per person before March 5, $50 on or after March 5. Reserved tables for eight are $400, which also covers strategic placement of a business’s advertising material. Tickets also are available at the Skamania County Chamber of Commerce.