Online Bidding For Winter Festival Begins

The online bidding for a major fundraiser benefitting the students of Cherry Brook Primary and Canton Intermediate schools has begun.

Through March 2 anyone with Internet access and the desire to win good prizes for the schools’ benefit can view some 250 items at www.biddingforgood.com/cantonpto.

Items include tickets to a UConn basketball game, a first-pitch opportunity at a Rock Cats game and a Memorial Day parade ride in a fire truck.

The online auction is one component of a major fundraiser that benefits Parent Teacher Organizations at both schools. The effort also includes Annual Winter Festival Auction & Gala on March 3 at Bridge Street Live with host Scot Haney.

Mostly attendees at the gala will have the chance to bid on different items than online visitors but there will be some overlap. A few larger items will feature absentee bidding, in which an Internet user can commit to a specific bid. A representative at the event will then bid up to that amount on behalf of the absentee bidder in an effort to bring in more funds. 

The event committee is also emphasizing that the bidding is open to people outside of town. Most items can be shipped or picked up from 5 to 7 p.m. the night of the gala.

The Winter Festival and auction is the largest fundraiser for the school PTOs. It started as a smaller event in the mid 2000s but this is the third year it will be held at Bridge Street Live. Last year, it brought in nearly $30,000.

“It’s the signature event from the Cherry Brook and CIS PTOs,” said committee member Janet Babbitt.

The focus last year and this year will be technology. Last year, for example, the CIS PTO helped fund a mobile computer lab while the Cherry Brook PTO purchases included a wireless PA system.

And there is still time to donate items for this year's event. If interested in doing so, contact Tracy Renaud at 860-693-3720 or mail to Tracy Renaud c/o Cherry Brook Primary School, 4 Barbourtown Road, Canton CT 06019.