Between updates, you can also enjoy Last Year's Live Coverage |
[Start with the newest entry (at the bottom)]
This page will be updated regularly during the sale with the latest news and pictures from the sale. If you just can't make it to the sale this year, you can at least get a taste for what you're missing and start making plans to come next year. You can also visit this page after you get back from the sale to relive the experience!
Last Year's Live Coverage is still available. Also, if you won't be able make it but would still like to help by donating some money or items, see the More Information Page for contact and contribution information.
New entries will be added at the bottom so if you want to go straight to the latest entry you might want to start at the bottom. You might also need to select Refresh or Reload on your browser if the new information doesn't seem to be showing up.
Welcome to the 2006 Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale!
I was planning on this first entry to be made from the sale after I had a chance to take a few pictures, but I haven't made it to the sale yet. I'm doing this update from the public library in the town of Buhler, where I stopped for gas and then found my car's starter is dead. I'm now waiting for a friend to bring a new one in from Hesston.
So, I can't tell you how things are going at the sale yet this fine slightly drizzly afternoon, but I will as soon as I get going again. Hopefully you're already there and are enjoying the food and events that are starting soon!
My hands are still greasy from changing the starter, but I'm finally here and managed to take a couple pictures to get us started. Then I'm going to find something to eat because I'm famished and the smells are getting to me.
| Heather Martins, Joy Yoder, and Chad Martins register walkers and runners for tomorrow's Run for Relief race. |  |
 |
Donna and Hailey Heide and Shelby Howard, from Hope Mennonite Church in Wichita, selling T-Shirts and Yardsticks at the T-Shirts and Yardsticks booth. |
| Lots of activity at the Quilter's Corner! |  |
 |
Yummy, yummy pies. I'm not going to say anything more, I'm just going to go get me some. |
Just got back from eating and taking a lot more pictures, but due to the time I'm going to wait until I get home to prepare the new batch of photos and get them on the website. I'm full and may be feeling a little lazy now because of it.
| Here's where I came to get delicious Verenika, Borscht, Zwiebach, and Bohne Beroggi. Food, in other words. Rod Loucks, one of my co-workers at Hesston College, was one of the food servers. | 
 |
 |
Paul Harshberger was the driver of this people mover that was helping people get around between the buildings. A couple of the riders were Janice and Larry Cross from Wichita. |
| Some of the quilts waiting for tomorrow's auction | 
 |
 |
In the General Auction building I found the Friday part of the auction well underway, saw the Tractor and Mini-FasTrak that will be sold Saturday, and met Matt Schmidt of Newton and Lisa Brown of Halstead at the new Silent Auction |
| Cheese. I just really like seeing a table full of cheese. This is in the Commercial Arts Building, which also houses the new larger Caps booth where Dale Anderson takes a sip break and Richard Schroeder stands ready to help, both from Buhler. | 
 |
 |
Back in the Meadowlark Building, where I have my computer set up to do these updates (except this one I'm finishing at home), I catch a little bit of the evening entertainment and buy a Russian Pancake -- being flipped for me by Kim Kaufman of Hillsboro -- for desert, even though I'm still full from supper. |
Welcome to the second day of the Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale! I just pulled in and got my computer set up to do a quick initial entry before I take off for some breakfast and to take a bunch of new pictures. The Quilt and General auctions will be starting up in about an hour, and this place will soon be jumping. Hope most of you reading this will be able to be here today -- it's looking like it's shaping up to be a beautiful days!
The Auctions are about to begin. I found there is now high speed wireless access here for a small fee, well worth it to no longer have to plug into a telephone line to do slow updates. I'm also set to start posting the Quilt Auctions pricess in the Quilt Gallery once things get underway. But I haven't had my breakfast yet so that and taking pictures are my next priority. I'll be back in about an hour or so with pictures and quilt prices!
Sorry it's taken so long; I had to resolve a technical issue with the quilt prices, but they are now working on the Quilt Gallary. Here are just a few pictures to get started -- more coming soon!
| Brooke enjoys a round of miniature golf as her mom Susan Nafziger and Aunt Sandy Duerksen, of Goessel, cheer her on. |  |
 |
Jolyn Rodman and Wendy Perkins came all the way from Indiana to help make New Years Cookies for the Kansas sale! Actually, they are here with MBS in Hutchinson. |
| Next to the Cheese booth I pictured yesterday is the Meats booth, shown here with Carrie Unruh from Peabody and Bonnie Janzen from the Goessel area making another sale. |  |
 |
Kaylene Bontrager of Arlington jokes and laughs and sells cookies and milk at the new fresh Cookies and Milk booth. |
| Kids having fun on the popular Big Slide! | 
 |
 |
...and on the Barrel Train |
| Back again is Janet Regier with her beautiful Ukrainian Eggs. Here she's showing her Mom, Rosemary Moyer, one of her creations. According to Rosemary, Janet started making Ukrainian Eggs with a friend after they saw an article in the National Geographic magazine. |  |
 |
Finally getting through the rest of my first round of photos, so here's the breakfast line and two of the servers, Anita Regier of Buhler, and Holli Kroeker of Inman. By now breakfast is over and the German Lunch is well underway. |
Because of some technical difficulties, I didn't get as many pictures taken by now as I normally have. I may lend my camera to guest photographers so I can continue doing the quilt price updates, like I did below, or I may have to take a break from quilt updates to go on another photography round.
| Thanks to Kent Harder for taking this picture of Anna, Abby, and Cristy Harder enjoying the items available at the Kid's Corner. I believe those might be Kent's nieces. |  |
This next set of pictures brought to you courtesy of Aaron Diller:
| Mark Miller shows the proper way to perform the ancient Chicken Dance ritual at the Chicken BBQ cookout. | 
 |
 |
The General Auction is going strong, and the tractor is about ready to go up on the auction block. |
| The Hustler Mini-FasTrak test drive course is active, letting people drive the lawnmowers around a course for a small donation. |  |
Sorry for it being so long between updates; I was taking pictures and enjoying the sale. Here's some of the pictures I took, and I'll post the rest in the next update, which I'll do tonight after I get home.
| Ten Thousand Villages brings crafts from around the world to the Relief Sale as well as to their stores around the country. | 
 |
 |
Kid's Corner is a popular spot in the corner of the Kansas Crafts booth where kids can find toys and games to buy. |
| Heather Winter and her daughter Isabel, from Wichita, watch as Ten Thousand Villages' Lois Kreider demonstrates the us of the loom to make a quality rug. |  |
Back home safe and sound after the sale! Here are a few more pictures that I didn't have a chance to post earlier:
| Kent Harder gave me another picture, this one taken using his camera phone so the quality isn't as good. Here we see Cayman and Trevin Wiens on the 1949 John Deere MT tractor that sold in the General Auction. Here's also a picture of Kent on his way out. | 
 |
 |
This was taken during the Quilt Auction, early Saturday afternoon. The one currently on display is Quilt #157, which sold for $1,100. |
| Reed Hammond stirs the Kettle Korn while Liz Wray, also from Hesston, bags it up for purchase. The popcorn was salty with just a touch of sweet -- just right! |  |
 |
I got to the Plants and Things section too late to get any good pictures. It's quite lovely at the beginning of the sale when the shelves are full of green bounty. |
| The last major event at the sale is the Surplus Auction, and the smart shoppers stick around for that to get good deals on bulk quantities of perishable items that remain at the end of the sale. You might be able to get Verenika, or milk, or pats of butter, or cheese, or pie. Thanks to Lorna Harder, pictured here, for taking the Surplus Auction pictures, plus help with getting the quilt prices updated on the Quilt Gallery! | 
 |
 |
Pies almost all gone... |
| Car parked on the other side of the fairgrounds? If you find Roger Wilson and he's got the Gator, and you smile at him, he may give you a lift at the end of a long day. Edna Plett of Inman found herself in the right place at the right time for a ride. |  |
Live coverage by David Godshall, NØLQU, kansas@mccsale.org