Auctions to mark New Ulm's 150th anniversary

One item is autographed picture of Ray Charles

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The first of three live-and-silent auctions marking the 150th anniversary celebration in New Ulm will be held in the Marktplatz Mall community room Saturday, June 19.

The 1st Charity Celebrity Autograph Auction is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. and end around 5 p.m., in time for the start of the street dance celebration, according to Ron Fleischmann, 150th Anniversary Committee chairman.

Twenty-four items, including an autographed 8x10 picture of singer Ray Charles who died at age 73 this week, will be auctioned off live while another 77 autographed items will be up for bidding during the concurrent silent auction.

"The Ray Charles photograph will have extra meaning as he just died," Fleischmann said. Another live auction item, The Righteous Brothers 8x10 autographed picture, also should have special meaning, Fleischmann said, because only one brother is still living.

Other highlighted live-auction items include the "genuine" 1980 Olympics Hockey Puck autographed by Mike Eruzione, the sold-out Limited Edition New Ulm 150th Anniversary Medallion (No. 150 of 300), Garrison Keillor's autographed Wobegon Boy book, the tie autographed by Henry Winkler who wore it in "One Christmas," an autographed golf glove worn by Hale Irwin, and an autographed cartoon of "The Family Circus" by Bil Keane.

The silent auction features 77 items, most of which are autographed. Fleischmann said the few pre-printed autographed items will start at a lower price.

There are autographed photographs of Cybill Sheperd, Jeff Bridges, Charley Pride, Gene Wilder, Richard Petty, Jennifer Lopez, Terry Bradshaw, Arnold Palmer, Lee Greenwood, Jackie Chan, David Copperfield, William Conrad, Limp Bizkit and Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman.

There are also books titled Building a Company, autographed by Roy O. Disney, The Crocodile Hunter from the Australia Zoo and The Bundled Doonesbury, A Pre-Millennial Anthology, autographed, of course, by G.B. Trudeau.