Men’s Club Auction proceeds to benefit community pool improvements

HUNTINGTON WOODS — The biggest fundraiser in Huntington Woods will make its return to the city next month.

The 43rd annual Huntington Woods Men’s Club Auction will take place at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at the Gillham Recreation Center, 26363 Scotia Road.

The auction will feature more than 200 items for people to bid on, as well as the return of its beer garden, which made its debut last year.

“We are looking forward to hosting another terrific event,” President of the Huntington Woods Men’s Club Bob Parmann said in a press release. “The service auction, year in and year out, is the social event of the year in our city, and this one is shaping up to be among the best yet.”

In addition to in-person bidding, there also will be an online auction as well for those who can’t be in attendance. The online auction opens at 10 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, and continues until Saturday, April 20, at the start of the live auction.

James Jahnke, a member of the Men’s Club, said they like offering the online bidding, which was added during the pandemic, to help make the process of bidding easier.

“Maybe in the past when it was kind of done in person, you kind of always had to hover over the item that you were trying to get right before the table closed to make sure nobody beats you out,” he said. “Here, you can kind of be a little bit more passive and enjoy your night from a social standpoint and bid on your phone and set maximum bids so that it automatically goes up if somebody bids over you.”

Proceeds from the auction will go toward improvements to the city’s community pool. Jahnke said the pool was a good choice, as the updates will affect a large swath of the community.

“Whether you have somebody on the swim team or you’re a lap swimmer, exercise, your children go there … all kinds of people use the pool,” he said. “So it’s kind of something that has a lot of visibility and the improvements will affect the most people.”

City Manager Chris Wilson said the city will be using much of the money raised this year to update the deck chairs at the pool.

“We have over 100 that we keep around there all the time,” he said. “You know, people like to lay out around the pool. They’re (the chairs are) old; they’ve been used a lot … so that’s gonna be a big upgrade.”

Wilson said there also could be updates to the pool’s locker room facilities but, overall, the actual pool itself is in good shape.

“We’ll have some upgrades over the next few years for the filtration system, some things that will make it more energy efficient and just make it easier for us to operate, but all in all the pool is in good shape,” he said.

Tickets to the in-person event cost $50. For more information on the event and to purchase tickets, visit hwmc.org.