The Monterey Depot Historical Society holding a silent auction next week to raise funds for the organization’s various ongoing projects.
Monterey Assistant Cultural Administrator Johnathan Phillips said the historical society needs additional money for the Depot Museum and other facilities like a new dining car for the facility. Phillips said it is important to support the historical society to ensure that the town’s history is properly remembered.
“Here a while back I had a great, great granddaughter come in and they wanted to put her on her great, great grandmother’s saddle to take a picture,” Phillips said. “And, you know, that means a whole lot. There’s a lot of people here with things that their parents and parents before them (were) a part of and it’s just so important to remember our history.”
Phillips said the auction will include gift cards, old lamps, new kitchen appliances, and an Andy Griffith collectible plate collection that comes with its own cookbook. Phillips said more items for the auction are coming in every day.
The event takes place on Saturday, April 5 starting at 9:00am at the Monterey Depot Museum.
“We’re just trying our best to have a strong push for our community,” Phillips said. “This has been a mining town, a logging town. My entire family has been here our whole lives. Both my great-grandfather and my grandpa both worked in the last coal mine here in Monterey out at Meadow Creek Lake.”
Phillips said the event is taking place on the same day as the town’s Banana Pudding Festival. Phillips said last year’s festival brought over five hundred people to the depot museum so holding an auction at the same time is a great opportunity.
“I talked to Angela, that’s the woman that’s over it, and she said that doing the auction would be perfect and she was happy with it,” Phillips said. “So we’re very glad to get to co-partner with them, so to speak, on that day.”
Phillips said the Historical Society hopes to use the funds raised from the auction in its efforts to increase membership and provide new events or programs for local children.
