A Taste of St. Joe’s, the annual fundraiser for St. Joseph Catholic School, will be 7-11 p.m. Saturday at Cherokee Strip Conference Center.

Admission is $50 per person. Tables of eight can be purchased for $200, said Erin Schovanec, chairwoman for the event. There will be an open bar for wine and beer only 7-8:30 p.m. A cash bar will be offered all night.

Live and silent auctions are planned, with prizes ranging from Italian and Mexican dinners to collector’s items.

“This is our annual fundraiser that we have every year. It’s important to the school to help keep the doors open,” Schovanec said.

The evening is catered by Panevino, and Lippard Auctioneers will conduct the live auction. The live auction offers prizes such as a dinner with the Rev. Joseph M. Irwin, pastor of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church; a chef’s dinner for six offered by Panevino; Russian icons donated from a private collection; an Orlando, Fla. vacation package; Latin dinner for 20 people; an Oklahoma State University football signed by quarterback Brandon Weeden; and an antique Holy Last Rite/Sick Box. The box is a form of portable altar, which priests once carried when calling on the sick and dying, said Schovanec.

In the silent auction, items include an American Girl Doll basket, large Lego Star Wars basket and more than 100 other items. Schovanec said there is something for everyone.

“Attendance is encouraged because of a special presentation to the school,” she said.

St. Joseph’s Catholic School reopened in 2000 and is in its 11th year. There currently are 90 students enrolled.

“You don’t have to be Catholic to attend the school. It’s open to anyone who would like a private education for their children,” Schovanec said.

ENID — An annual sale that raises thousands of dollars for hunger and disaster relief worldwide is set Friday and Saturday at Chisholm Trail Expo Center.

Money raised from the auction of handmade quilts, international crafts and other items sponsored by the Oklahoma Mennonites goes to help relieve hunger and provide disaster assistance in other countries, said Luella Unruh, one of the sale coordinators.

Some booths will open 4 p.m. Friday, followed by a 5-7 p.m. meal available for $10. Other food booths will sell bratwurst, bierox and other items, and a music program featuring a country gospel trio begins at 6:30 p.m. A craft auction is slated 6-9 p.m.

Also open Friday is the “10,000 Villages” booth, which will feature craft items from third-world countries, Unruh said. Mennonites purchase those items from the individual craftsmen, paying a fair price, then resell them.

“It is their business, and they provide for their families,” Unruh said.

On Saturday, a pancake and sausage breakfast will be available 7-9:30 a.m. for $6. All booths open at 8 a.m.

Saturday’s craft auction begins at 9 a.m., with the quilt auction starting at 11:30 a.m. The People’s Choice quilt, chosen by votes from those who viewed quilts Friday night, will be sold at noon.

Other booths will sell apple butter and baked goods such as cakes, bread, noodles, Russian pancakes, New Year’s Cookies and traditional verenika, a German food made with cottage cheese covered with ham gravy. There also will be homemade sausage, pepper nut cookies, homemade ice cream and pies.

Last year’s Enid auction, one of 46 held in the United States and Canada, raised about $120,000. Nationally, millions of dollars are raised every year by the combined efforts of the Mennonite Brethren of Christ and Amish Mennonite churches.

“We know the economy is tough, and whatever people donate, it is used to help relieve disasters around the world, both hunger and otherwise,” Unruh said.

Lippard Auctioneers again will sell the crafts and quilts this year.

As a result of their 2010 success Lippard Auctioneers earned United Countrys prestigious Summit Club Silver Award which was presented during United Countrys National Training & Awards Convention March 7-9, in Austin, Texas.

United Country – Lippard Auctioneers agent Angie Lippard was also named United Country’s No. 5 sales agent among the company’s more than 4500 sales associates across the nation. She was awarded the companys Pinnacle Elite award the highest honor awarded to United Country sales agents.

We are excited to be a part of the largest network of traditional real estate agents and auctioneers in the country said Troy Lippard. Through our partnership with United Country, we are able to provide clients the proven benefits of the United Country marketing program and our 2010 results are evidence of the power of what we can offer sellers.

United Country – Lippard Auctioneers can be contacted by phone at 580-237-7174 and their full listing inventory can be viewed online at www.LippardAuctions.com.

About United Country

United Country Real Estate is the largest fully integrated network of conventional and auction real estate professionals in the United States. Based in Kansas City, Mo., the company has been an innovator in real estate marketing since 1925. United Country supports nearly 600 offices across the U.S., Costa Rica, Panama and the resort areas of Mexico, with a unique, comprehensive marketing program that includes one of the largest portfolios of property marketing web sites (more than 1,400 separate sites), seven proprietary real estate catalogs with a cumulative distribution of 1.5 million readers, an extensive, current buyer database and national advertising of properties that reaches more than 90 million homes per week. United Country has recently been recognized by AllBusiness.com, The Land Report, Entrepreneur and The Wall Street Journal as one of the top U.S. real estate companies.