Lighthouse auction raises money for rebirth of Downtown Racine
By PHYLLIS SIDES
Journal Times | Posted: Saturday, September 15, 2007 12:00 am
RACINE - The lights flashing atop the lighthouses at Memorial Hall Saturday afternoon were a beacon to Pat Kalberg of Kenosha. Kalberg came to The Lights Out! Lighthouse Auction in search of a piece of home to take with when she moves to St. George, Utah, in the next year or so.
"My husband will be retiring from Johnson Polymer and I want to take something from my old home to my new home," Kalberg said.
The doors opened at 3 p.m. for a preview of the lighthouses and the start of the silent auction. The voice auction portion began at 4 p.m. Twenty-six lighthouses were in the voice auction and 52 lighthouses were part of the silent auction.
Of the lighthouses included in the voice auction Kalberg had five favorites: Pagoda, Midnight Sail, Lighthouses of Wisconsin, Get the Drift and The Wright Direction.
Kalberg hoped to have the winning bid on Lighthouses of Wisconsin because she'd like to give it to her son, who lives in Massachusetts.
"I'd like to get it for him, as a reminder of home, because he got me interested in lighthouses. It has all the Wisconsin lighthouses on it," Kalberg said.
The lighthouses have sparked quite a bit of interest, said DRC Executive Director Devin Sutherland. For those not able to attend the auction but who were interested in bidding on their favorite lighthouse, proxy bidders were available.
"It's been very positive. We've several proxy bidders from six different states," Sutherland said. "Some gentleman called the Downtown Racine office and said he was interested in five of them he saw on DRC's Web site. He said he would be here today."
For artist Mary Lou Dettmer, coming up with an idea for this year's lighthouses was a bit easier than for the public art project from past years.
"I did the cats, the bears and the fish. I enjoyed them all. But for some reason this idea came easily and it was fun to do," Dettmer said. "Perhaps because it was straight up and down."
Dettmer designed Bright with Light Day and Night. Dettmer is a former children's activity book illustrator who worked for Western Publishing. She also was an artist for Hallmark Cards. These days, the art she creates is for fun, Dettmer said, like Racine's public art projects.
"It's a nice thing to do for the city," Dettmer said.
Proceeds from the Lights Out! Auction go to the Downtown Racine Corp. for its continuing efforts to enhance and sustain the cultural and economic rebirth of the Downtown neighborhood.