The Auctions

Several auctions take place during the Mennonite Relief Sale and are a major source of revenue for the sale.

The General Auction (Sunflower Building North) features a wide spectrum of items such as tractors, tools, antiques, handcrafted furniture and children's toys and décor items. It starts at 6pm on Friday, and resumes at 8:45am on Saturday.

The Quilt Auction (Meadowlark Building) also starts at 8:45am on Saturday and runs concurrently with the General Auction. Both auctions will run throughout the morning and early afternoon on Saturday.

The Silent Auction (Sunflower Building South) is available for viewing Friday night, and bids will be accepted between 8am and Noon on Saturday.

The Surplus Auction (Meadowlark Building) starts around 2:30pm on Saturday, immediately following the Quilt Auction, to sell any food items that did not sell out during the sale.

General Auction

A good ole' fashioned auction featuring a little new, a little old, collectibles and a variety of handcrafted fair. Included will be tractors, tools, antiques, handcrafted furniture and children's toys and décor items.

Each year hundreds of items are donated by Mennonite churches, area businesses and individuals. These donations are essential to making the General Auction possible.

The General Auction will commence Friday 6pm and resume Saturday 8:45pm in the Sunflower Building North. Items to be auctioned at special times will be posted Friday between 1:30-2:30 p.m. Major credit cards accepted at auction.

Items headlining this year's General Auction include :

Restored 1929 Model A Nicely Restored Model A Ford Coupe WITH desirable Rumble Seat. No expense was spared on this restoration. Exceptional Upholstery, body work and superb paint job. Runs and Drives Very Well. A great truly Antique Car you can enjoy, take to car shows and drive in parades; or take the grandkids out for a cruise.

Restored 1945 John Deere H, originally purchased at Oklahoma Relief Sale over 30 years ago. Above Average Restoration, Mechanical as well as Cosmetic. Professional Paint Job and Equipped with RARE John Deere Factory Hydrualic 2-Point. Starts Easy and Runs Smooth.

A new Sport mower donated by Excel Industries, Hesston, features include a 42" deck, 17.5 HP Briggs & Stratton, very high blade-tip speed for awesome quality of cut, welded steel deck and tubular frame (NOT STAMPED), 18" drive tires, 11" caster tires, hydrostatic transmissions for true zero-degree turning maneuverability, commercial duty, serviceable deck spindles, toughest frame, front forks, and deck in the industry, simplest maintenance in the industry, 3 gallon fuel capacity, and SmoothTrak(tm) steering with patented automatic park brake system

1961 Mercury Comet with 50,000 actual miles with ORIGINAL floor mats and trunk mat and seat covers. Originally sold in Hillsboro, KS at Albert Reimer Ford. Still has the sticker on the bumper. Incredibly clean ORIGINAL 50 year old car. Trunk mat, spare tire, jacks in place just as on show room floor. NO RUST ANYWHERE. Purrs like a kitten. Nice ride, original seat covers. Amazing in every respect. You just do not find ORIGINAL old cars like this anymore. This is a real opportunity for someone to add a very nice car to their collection.

A 1954 church pew from Grace Hill Mennonite Church. See the Article Below for more information

The original pastor's chair from the Hebron Mennonite Church. See the Article Below for more information

Numerous items from the Historic Yoder Mennonite Church, including attendance register, glass painting, pulpit and pulpit chairs, mailboxes, and more. See the Article Below for more information

John Deere Flower Planter built with parts from a Vintage John Deere Planter

• Kansas MCC Beef Walk Throw comprised of Beef Walk t-shirts with hand quilting and accompanying pillow;
• Set of Hesston Belt Buckles including 1974 buckle

-- Handcrafted Furniture/Wood Items --

This oak Grandfather Clock has an 8 day, chain driven triple chime Hermle movement. The Hermle brand is synonymous with German quality. The clock has a moving moon dial, beveled glass and twisted rod pendulum. All pieces were Handcrafted by Eldon Martens of Inman, Kansas. This is not a kit.

A walnut what-not shelf with a natural finish

This is a Matching Pair of Cedar Plant Boxes 22" x 28". Built by Elton Nickel, Tabor Mennonite.

Ornamental Bird houses, built by Keith Banman, Tabor Mennonite

Eight of these Fan Shapped Trellis built by the Junior High Youth Explorers at Tabor Mennonite. To be sold at Plants and Things and the General Auction.

Solid Oak Bookcase, built from White Quarter Sawn Oak by Dale Aldefer. 28" wide, 60" tall and 8" deep.

This Alder Bench is 15" deep by 44" wide. Built by Nathan Ashley, Tabor Mennonite.

Handcrafted Cypress and Cedar Adirondack Chairs, built by John, Austin, Fred, Luke, and Bill Unruh - Tabor Mennonite Church

A reproduction children's American Coaster oak wagon

Handcrafted wooden John Deere tractor, pine body, walnut wheels

A replica grain wagon with team of dapple gray horses built by John Lohrentz, originally donated to the 1987 KMRS general auction (the last wagon Lohrentz built for KS Relief Sale)

Blue Doll House, 34" wide by 18" deep by 30" tall, assembled from kit on a revolving pedestal 24" tall with 48" diameter.

Solid Oak Tower Bookcase with Adjustable Shelves, 16" wide, 12" deep and 77" tall

This is a Solid Oak Child's Dresser custom built for the "American Girl Doll". 30" high and 20quot; wide. Built by Loren Brandt, Tabor Mennonite, Goessel, KS

• Oak chest - 43" wide, 19" deep, 19" high

The Silent Auction will feature additional items -- scroll down for details

A Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale sale bill is available in Mid-March at area business and at the MCC Central States office in North Newton. Sale bill items and additional pictures will also be posted here as they become available.

Donations from Historic Mennonite Churches

The Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale scheduled to auction several items from historic Mennonite Churches as part of the General and Silent auctions.

The donations-coming from three separate donors-are from Grace Hill Mennonite Church, rural Whitewater, the former Hebron Mennonite Church, Buhler, and the former Yoder Mennonite Church.

The first item is a church pew, being donated by Carmen and Paul Wade, Wichita. Carmen is the daughter of Alma and Olin Schmidt, who are Grace Hill members of long standing. According to Alma, this pew was built in 1954 for the new Grace Hill Mennonite Church building which replaced the stone church built in 1880-82. In 2001, in a major remodeling including a new sanctuary, these pews were replaced and sold. This pew was shortened, using the original ends to become more user friendly in a home.

The next piece, is the original pastor's chair from the Hebron Mennonite Church. According to Ellen (Ediger) Jahay, the chair had falling into disrepair-chair donor. She offered to have the chair repaired and hoped one day to give the chair back to the church. Due to the Hebron Church combining with the Buhler Mennonite Church and the church building being sold, the recently restored chair is up for Auction at this year's Relief Sale.

South Hutchinson Mennonite is donating the following items from the Historic Yoder Mennonite Church: attendance register with numbers, picture painted on glass, 3 pulpit (deacon's) chair, church mailboxes, pulpit made by Noah Headings, banners, marble racks and other small items. South Hutchinson purchased the facility several years ago and utilizes the facility as a second campus location with weekly church services.

Quilt Auction

The Quilts Page has full details about the Quilt Auction, including the Quilt Gallery -- a list with photos of this year's quilts!

The quilt display opens on Friday and the auction begins Saturday at 8:45am, continuing to mid-afternoon. It all takes place in the Meadowlark Building at the South-West corner of the fairgrounds.

A Solid Oak quilt rack with Heart Design built by Alvin Schmidt, Tabor Mennonite. To be sold at the Quilt Auction.

Silent Auction

The fifth annual KMRS Silent Auction features a wide variety of items from golf packages to antiques from hand-crafted items to antiques is scheduled Saturday of the sale.

Auction items are available for viewing Friday at 5pm in the Sunflower South Building. Bidding on all items is open from 8am until Noon on Saturday, April 18. Individuals can bid on any item as many times as they wish during the allotted time. There is a minimum bid plus bidding increments on each item.

Auction coordinator Matt Schmidt is planning to have 20 to 30 items up for auction. Items on the block thus far include:

These items were all donated by Leona Sawatzky who lives at Kidron Bethel Village in North Newton. The train was made by Ben Sawatzky, who died in 2003. Together they had been missionaries in India.

A piece of fine jewelry from Gemstone Jewelers, Inc., Derby. There are 30 round brilliant cut Diamonds approx. 0.40Cttw of Diamonds. The round white cultured pearl is approx. 6.5MM Set into 14K Yellow Gold. Gorgeous and sizeable.

Oneida: This is an 8 place setting with LOTS of extra pieces. It is "Community Silverplate" manufactured by the Great Oneida Co., NY in 1951. The Pattern is the Very Desirable "Morning Star".

Sevylor Inflatable Sport Kayak. Made for whitewater rapids or touring. This is brand new (currently in the box). List price is $750

• 3 Person Coleman Tent. Brand New
• Prairie Dunes Golf Package. Package good for 4 green fees and carts. Prairie Dunes, located in Hutchinson, is a nationally ranked course that has recently hosted the Women's and Senior Men's U.S. Open Golf Championships
• Golden Rule travel offering an airline ticket in the lower 48 states

Items not picked up by 2pm are taken to the General Auction.

For more information or to donate an item, contact Matt and Amy Schmidt at 316-283-2791 or mattamy2249@sbcglobal.net.

Surplus Auction

As the sale comes to a close on Saturday, all surplus items are gathered from the various booths. The items are auctioned at the Surplus Auction in the Meadowlark Building starting around 2:30pm, following the conclusion of the Quilt Auction.

For more information on the time and location of each auction, visit the Schedule and Directory page.

Donors should report donated auction items for pre-sale publicity to Becky Blough, 10333 N. Willow Lake Road, Moundridge, KS 67107, phone 620-345-3088, publicity@kansas.mccsale.org

For more information about the General Auction, contact Rod Chrystie, chair, at 620-665-7406, or Arlin Buller, vice-chair.

Send financial contributions to Tim Miller, treasurer, Kansas MCC Relief Sale, 4805 Broadacres Rd., Hutchinson, KS 67501.

More contact information is available here.