Leona Glidden said when she took over organizing the Together Days auction three years ago she had no idea who to put on the microphone for the auction. When she’d helped before they’d had a professional auctioneer, but he was expensive.
Then someone suggested Stan Sawyer, Westbrook school superintendent, and Al Juniewicz, a broker for Remax Absolute. At first she was leery because they weren’t auctioneers. But she asked and they said yes. And after she saw them do the auction together, she was thrilled with her choice.
“They did a tremendous job. They kept everybody going,” she said. “They had everybody laughing and carrying on.”
Sawyer and Juniewicz said they both enjoy doing the auction and enjoy doing it together because they’re good friends. It also gives them a chance to needle each other.
“Stan and I will give each other a hard time,” said Juniewicz, who said he also enjoys “being with the people and having a little give and take.”
Juniewicz said one of his big fears during the auction is having his wife in the audience bidding on items. He said he can’t bid himself, but his wife does and has bought several things.
“Of course, Stan pitches in to get her to keep bidding, too,” he said.
Sawyer said he and Juniewicz, as friends, will “kind of play off of each other and make it interesting” to try to get people to bid.
The two said they’ve been friends since Sawyer came to Westbrook seven years ago and Juniewicz helped him build his house at Pride’s Corner. The two have education in common since Juniewicz was the principal of Scarborough High School for 17 years.
“We have a good time. It’s a lot of fun,” said Juniewicz, who joked that Sawyer isn’t as good an auctioneer as he is. “I spend days practicing my rant,” he said. “Hey-now-we’ve-got-five-got-five. Can-I-hear-ten-can-I-hear-ten?”
The auction helps raise money to pay for Together Days. The items auctioned are donated by local businesses and include everything from microwaves and air conditioners to free nights at hotels and cruises on Casco Bay and Maine’s lakes. For the last three years, Glidden has been the person to gather the things from the businesses and store them on her closed-in porch.
Glidden said does her part because she enjoys it.
“I do it because…well, I’m retired, I don’t have much to do,” she said. “But you meet nice people. It’s kind of fun.”
Glidden said she starts with a list of businesses and goes to them each in person because “if you go to see them, they’re more apt to give.” She said most of them are Westbrook businesses but she also gets some from other communities-Portland, in particular.
She said most people give if they are approached. In fact, she said only five or six businesses she approached this year didn’t donate. The rest tried to give something at least. She said many gave gift certificates this year, more than in years past. The only difference she noted this year was a reluctance for people to give oil certificates, which she said was understandable with the price of fuel up.
Last year she said the auction raised $4,100. “We did very well last year,” she said. Although she doubted the city would do any better this year, she said she hoped they would top last year’s totals on Saturday.
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