It's Almost Time for Blazing Gavels!

It's almost here! The 44th annual Blazing Gavels Auction (sponsored by KLRN) is June 10-19.

This year's auction features a spiffy new set. Students at the International Academy of Design and Technology designed the colorful murals (pictured), which were painted by students from the Blue Star Mosaic program. They give the set a marvelous sense of color and movement. KLRN's engineers worked hard to design a new set in about half the space. (KLRN now rents part of its studio to another production company.) But there's still plenty of room for volunteers to move around...and for three rows of phones!

The auction features hundreds (if not thousands) of items...everything from gift certificates to food to wine to travel to......you name it. The most valuable prize this year is a Harley Davidson motorcycle, valued at $15,000. You can bid on the more valuable items on their website.

I highly recommend calling the station (210-270-9000) to get a speed bid number. This makes it easy for you to bid on multiple items (and multiple times, as you compete with other bidders).

This year's auction also features social media. They have a Facebook page and a Twitter account (www.twitter.com/KLRNauction); the Twitter account will have "guest" Tweeters each night. I'm honored to say I'll be the "guest Tweeter" on Friday, June 11. They'll also feature social media-only items each night, with the biggest prize being an iPad (donated by Rackspace). You'll only be able to bid on these items via Twitter or Facebook.

They're still looking for volunteers for a few shifts, particularly the late-night shift (9:30 pm until it's done). Call 270-9000 to volunteer.

The fundraising goal this year is $402,000, which represents about 8% of KLRN's annual budget.

Tune in June 10-19 at 6:00 pm, or visit their website. Bid high, and bid often!