Chamber auction goes all in for kids’ dreams
“This year, we are changing up our traditional auction a little bit,” FWKCC president/CEO Julie Blaylock said. “I’m excited for us to try some new things,” she added. “Everybody I talked to is excited about it.
“We wanted to try a new event, so we thought it would be a good idea to just tweak an event everybody already loved, which helps a member non-profit and to see how the members and the community like the changes.”
The event, 2026 The Charity Gala: High Stakes & Fine Spirits, will take place from 6 to 9 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 1, at The Venue at Lenoir City, 7690 Creekwood Blvd. in Lenoir City.
This year’s sponsors are Smoky Mountain Deck Builders, MR10 Realty, Adrian Hall Team at Rate, Coffee & Chocolate, Strategic Tax & Business, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, Bowen Door Service, LeConte Realty, LLC. and Texana Bank Mortgage.
For this event, Blaylock said there still will be a big silent auction.
“But we are also going to have casino game tables; we’re going to have a dance floor; food by Classy Caterer and we’re going to have a D.J. with music,” she said. “We’re going to have a bourbon pull and a wine bottle pull, where people can buy tickets.”
She explained with the bourbon and wine pulls, “we will have about 20 or 25 bottles of bourbon and 20 to 25 bottles of wine.
“The bourbon pull will be valued at a minimum of $50, but some [bourbon] may be valued at quite a bit more,” Blaylock said. “The wine will be valued at $25 or more, and basically what you will do is you will pay either $50 for the bourbon or $25 for the wine to pull a cork.
“The cork will have a number on it, and after all of them sell, then we will have the people who bought a cork pull come back and they will see which ones they want,” she said. “So, some people will at least get a bottle valued at what they paid for it, but some may get bottles that are valued way more … just for fun.”
She said 20% of the silent auction proceeds are going to go to The Dream Connection, the Chamber’s member non-profit.
The Dream Connection is a local organization made up of volunteers.
“They have a board of directors who pay all their administrative expenses, but every dollar that goes to them for fundraising goes to fulfill wishes of children who are either terminally ill at Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital or chronically ill,” Blaylock said. “The kids’ dreams are like going to Disneyworld or Dollywood or meeting a local celebrity or a football player or having a room makeover.
“So, we’re really, really excited to see how much money we can raise to cover the cost of at least one, two or three dreams for children,” she said. “We’re really excited to partner with them.”
Blaylock added she also is excited that all 300 reserved tables and seats now are sold out.
“As of this week, because of all the things that we’re going to have at the event — the dance floor, the game tables and the silent auction tables — we were limited to just 300 seats, so we are sold out at 300 already this week,” she said.
However, “we have released a general admission ticket for $100,” Blaylock said. “We would love for anyone who wants to just come have fun and support Dream Connection with us, anyone who wants to, can purchase that $100 general admission ticket.”
Those tickets can be purchased on the Chamber’s website at farragutchamber.com.
With that ticket, they will get to play the games, they can dance, enjoy food and beverages, bid in the silent auction, but “general admission tickets do not come with a seat of any kind,” she said, explaining that basically would be standing-room only entry.
“The fact that it’s the first week of September and we have already sold out seats is wonderful,” Blaylock said. “We’ve talked a lot, this week, to the board of directors at The Dream Connection, and they are so excited that the event is sold out.
“They are just so humble and thankful for the opportunity for more people who learn about who they are and the work they are doing for kids who are being treated at Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital,” she said. “They just want to continue to make dreams come true for kids in East Tennessee.”
