STURGIS, SD – The Sturgis American Legion and the Sturgis Brown High School Art Club will hold the second annual Tile Auction Thursday, May 12 after being rescheduled from April due to winter weather conditions. A spaghetti feed starts at 5pm with the auction getting underway at 6pm at the Sturgis Vets Club.
The idea of hand painting ceiling tiles to be auctioned and then placed in the Sturgis Vets Club became a joint project last year between Sturgis Brown High School Art Club instructors Anna Tescher and DeVee Dietz, along with Stacey Nickleson, manager of the Vets Club.
Similar to last year’s fundraiser, ceiling tiles created by Sturgis Art Club members feature the five branches of the military, vintage war poster images, and buyer’s choice where the buyer can select the image they want. “When these are purchased, they will be personalized with ‘donated by’ or ‘in memory of’ and then installed at the Sturgis Vets Club,” observes Nickelson.
“Our classrooms both have painted ceiling tiles which everyone seems to love,” shares Tescher. “Me being a veteran myself and DeVee being an Army brat growing up, we both have military ties. Sturgis is such a military-oriented community with Fort Meade being here.” She continued, “A lot of the kids have brothers, sisters, parents, aunts and uncles who are militarily involved. We both thought it would be cool to get the kids involved in the history of the area with the military service and tie it with the Sturgis Vets Club that does a lot to help local veterans and the community.”
Adam Karrels, who is donating his expertise and time to the fundraiser that raised over $5,000 last year, will begin the auction at 6pm.
The fundraiser benefits the SBHS Art Club and the American Legion for its many contributions to veterans, the community and young people, throughout the year. Nickelson and art teachers Tescher and Dietz encourage people to attend.
For more information about the auction, contact Stacey Nickelson at 605-347-4682.
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