The Caspar Community will host a benefit luncheon and auction at the Albion River Inn on Sunday, June 6th, starting at 12:30PM.
      Event Chairperson Ruth Dell'Ara is arranging the event along with Peter Wells, the inn's co-owner and a founding board member of the Caspar Community.
     The afternoon will begin with a buffet luncheon prepared by the Inn's award-winning chef, Steven Smith. Music will be provided by the Caspar String Quartet, led by Joselyn Bartlett. This will be followed by "Double-Barrelled Auction" - one silent auction with written bids, and another very vocal and lively one featuring the well-known Mendocino auctioneer, Kelly Peterson.
     All proceeds from the auction will go to advance the work of the Caspar Community in their efforts to save the Caspar headlands and preserve the rural charm of the village. Tickets for the event are $20 and may be purchased by calling the Caspar Community office at 964-4997.
     Pat Ackley, Caspar Community Coordinator, has assembled a huge array of auction items. "As of now, there are more than eighty items that will be sold," she says. "They have been donated by many supporters of Caspar, both local residents and out-of-town well-wishers."
     The items to be bid upon range from collectible clothing to tickets to the San Francisco Giants, a scenic flight over Mendocino and Caspar, a dinner for four at the Mendo Bistro, two nights at Old Mill Farm, an espresso machine, a Thanksgiving Coffee "Royalty Pack", and an acupuncture treatment.
     A first edition of John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" will be auctioned off, as will an autographed copy of Dean Koontz's "Sole Survivor". Among the art work available will be a Sunshine Taylor watercolor titled "Summer Roses", a Tom Brown papercut "Stone. Paper, Scissors" and prints of Sesame Street by Carroll Spinney, the puppeteer who does Big Bird. These last can be personally autographed by Big Bird to the buyer or a child of choice.
     In addition there will be numerous autographed photos of celebrities and various mementos from the entertainment world.

written by Jerry Juhl for the Mendocino Beacon