Kateri Morris earrings 2021. Photo by Jean Gindreau

Chimayo Rug 35×35 2021from Ortega’s. Photo by Jean Gindreau

Sunflowers knife oil painting by Rotarian Tatiana Klimov, a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, whose work has been shown in premier galleries in the Southwest. Photo by Jean Gindreau

By LINDA HULL
Vice President
Rotary Club of Los Alamos

“Bid now, bid high, and bid often!” These are the encouraging words shared by Rotarians Laura Loy and Jean Gindreau, the online auction coordinators for the Rotary Club’s 12th Annual Crab Fest.

You do not need to buy Crab Fest tickets to participate in the auction, which runs through 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14.

To accommodate COVID-19 restrictions, the traditional Crab Fest auction has gone online. To access the auction, go to app.galabid.com/crabfest, register, and click on Silent Auction. There you will find a great number of tempting treasures, all donated by generous members of the community.

If you collect baseball memorabilia, perhaps you’ll remember third baseman Pablo Sandoval, outfielder Cody Ross, or first baseman Brandon Belt. We’ve got their autographed baseballs plus sets of basketball cards. Maybe you’d prefer a round of golf in Angel Fire.

There are gold leaf necklaces with pendants, New Mexico-made earrings and sterling stars, cloth purses, as well as framed art prints, a Tesuque Glassworks hand-blown vase, a Nambe’ punch bowl and ladle, a table-top fountain, beautiful Chimayo’ weavings from Ortega’s, and a stunning original knife oil painting by Rotarian Tatiana Klimov, a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, whose work has been shown in premier galleries in the Southwest. Her Sunflowers will lift your spirits.

If family experiences are more to your liking, please consider bidding on a hummingbird banding opportunity with a gourmet picnic lunch this summer in Bandelier or on a trip to Disney World in Orlando. Take up bird-watching as your feathered friends enjoy the refreshing waters of an artisanal glass birdbath or share time with family over one of many puzzles offered.

Large items include a Dodge ramp van and an antique oak pump organ.

There also are gift certificates for Los Alamos Daily Post and PAC 8 advertising, spring yardwork, and financial and estate planning. A local salon, and auto supply and repair shops have offered gift certificates, and you’ll find more from Blue Window Bistro, Aspen Copies and Pig and Fig as prizes in our 50/50 raffle.

If there’s still nothing that piques your interest, give your heart to Rotary through a Valentine donation to Meals of Hope, which will once again provide 40,000 servings of beans and rice to Northern New Mexico food banks or to Polio Plus, Rotary International’s effort to eradicate polio worldwide. 

You can find all this and much more at app.galabid.com/crabfest.

Remember, the Rotary Club of Los Alamos enthusiastically urges you to bid now, bid high, and bid often!