A horse stole the show at the Cattle Baron's Ball.
Deep into the evening's live auction to benefit the American Cancer Society, all eyes were fixed on a Clydesdale colt trotted out by its donor, Jeff Gower. As the colt entered the Darr Agricultural Center, the other auction volunteers and I feverishly moved hay bales so it could strut its stuff.
And it did - but not before plopping down a hefty dose of manure that would have made the Busch family Clydesdales proud. Showing his team spirit, event chairman-elect David Martin quickly swept it away. What do you expect? We were in a glorified barn, after all.
The real fireworks started when bidding commenced, led by auctioneer Hoover Case and his four entertaining auction hands - including PFI Western Store owner Randy Little.
Those in attendance on Aug. 22 knew how to play this game. Arms flailed, heads nodded, eyes glared, people shouted and Case stayed above it all down to the last bid: "$16,000, sold!" Dressed in black from cowboy hat to shiny Western boots, John Joslyn navigated his way through the crowd to meet his new friend. The Clydesdale seemed to protest his new owner - who with his wife, Mary Kellogg-Joslyn, owns the Titanic museum in Branson and Cedar Bay Entertainment - but soon warmed up to Joslyn before he walked it back to the stables.
Joslyn's bid was the highest for a single item during the inaugural ball, which netted ACS $502,878 through live, silent and big-board auctions, sponsorships and ticket sales.
Other big-ticket items sold were a Palace Casino Resort getaway donated by Robert and Lawana Low ($5,700); a St. Maarten getaway donated by Clyde and Carol Lowrance ($5,700); a week's stay in Grant and Melissa Wistrom's Maui resort condo ($4,600); and a purebred Arabian yearling donated by Shan and Molly Wilson ($4,900). Price Cutter CEO Erick Taylor's top bid got him the horse as a gift for his daughter. Taylor also bid $4,400 for Susan Sommer-Luarca's commemorative Cattle Baron's Ball painting, which he plans to put on display at Price Cutter, which was the event's presenting sponsor.
If Joslyn was the shooting star, Glenn Larson was the workhorse. The owner of The Larson Group and Peterbilt of Springfield was seemingly bidding on every auction item - and not just on the front end. He'd go down to the wire and proved tough to beat on items he really wanted. Later, as he was publicly thanked for his contributions, including sponsorships, Larson said his efforts were simply for the kids, which was demonstrated on his purchase of 11 plates hand painted by local youth cancer patients. In all, Larson spent roughly $10,000 on auction items and $50,000 in sponsorships.
More than 1,000 attendees made history by introducing the three-decade old ACS fundraiser to southwest Missouri. In other markets, the ball has raised as much as $4 million.
Being involved with the ball on its publicity committee, I know organizers took some heat from supporters of local nonprofits for bringing the event here. The common complaint is that the money raised may not stay local, which is a valid point. But if we believe ACS is truly researching for a cure, do we think that will happen here? No, it'll happen in a lab at some large research institute. For the record, $8.3 million from ACS went to research labs in Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis last year. ACS' spending breakdown is: 37 percent to research, 22 percent to education and advocacy, 22 percent to patient services, 16 percent to fundraising and 3 percent to administration costs.
Until a lab exists in the Ozarks, we can't expect the money to stay 100 percent local. If a cure is discovered, it will make its way back to the Ozarks.
Either way, the southwest Missouri Cattle Baron's Ball is here to stay. Mark the calendar for Aug. 21, 2010.
Springfield Business Journal Editor Eric Olson can be reached at eolson@sbj.net.
