Courtesy Automotive Retailers Association
The 2019 Automotive Retailers Association AGM was one of the best ever and of the many highlights, the auction hosted by Adesa on Saturday night really stood out.
Not only did the auction raise money for the Automotive Retailers Foundation Inc. (ARFI), which offers scholarships and bursaries to young professionals pursuing careers in the automotive industry, it also made for great entertainment! Marc Bergevin and John MacDonald from Adesa knew just how to engage the audience and put on a great show.
The auction opened with a houseboat rental in the Shuswap and then a weekend adventure to Victoria. Canucks tickets were also up for grabs again year. There was a basket of wine, a miniature Mercedes-Benz G63 6×6 ride-on car, and a mystery box, although the highest bidder chose to hang on and open it later, so the contents remain a mystery.
The big twist of the night was the bidding war over a mountain bike donated by Rob Libera of Blue Star Motors. Immediately following the closing bid, John rode onto the stage with a second bike. In the end, both top bidders each rode away with one.
Darcy Griffith of Oliver Auto Recycling honoured the B-CAR division by donating two pieces of art, which he then generously bought back. And just when everyone thought the auction was over, there was an outcry from the floor to bid on the socks that John and Marc had simply been handing out. The auction went on and more than a few members went home with a set of $100 socks, proving just how generous the members are when it comes to donating to the foundation.
In total, the auction raised $17,200 for ARFI, exceeding last year’s record. This, combined with a $5,000 donation from Lordco for the annual Ed Coates memorial scholarship, $2,000 donated by the auto recycling division, $1,000 from the auto glass division, and $3,000 generated from the ARA’s annual golf tournament, means ARFI is on track to give away even more than the $28,000 it gave away this year in scholarships and bursaries.
Marc and John did a terrific job for a great cause. A big thank you goes to Adesa for not only conducting the auction but also donating most of the prizes, and Rob Libera for donating not one but two mountain bikes.