Get those bids in! You have less than a month to bid on the more than 50 items that have been placed on the Columbia Heritage Foundation’s online auction that is part of the 2024 Roughneck Blowout multi-class reunion at Heritage Hall. The Big Blowout reunion for all graduates of Columbia High School, regardless of what years you walked the halls at either Columbia High School, old West Columbia High School or Charlie Brown High School, will be Saturday, October 5, 2024. Tickets are $40 each and are now available for purchase at either Madeline’s Boutique or Bob Barta Lumber Yard in West Columbia, or can be obtained online at columbiaheritage.org.
The Roughneck Blowout Online Auction went live at 9 p.m. Thursday night, September 5, 2024, and will close at 9 p.m. CDT on October 5th, the night of the big Columbia High School reunion at Heritage Hall. Everyone is encouraged to participate in all three auctions associated with this year’s Roughneck Blowout: the online auction, silent auction and live auction. All money raised at this year’s Blowout–ticket sales, auction proceeds as well as donations from alumni–will go toward the Columbia Heritage Foundation Board of Directors being able to pay for the upkeep of the old West Columbia High School/Junior High School campus and all of its buildings. The current high school in West Columbia, presently undergoing massive overhauling, opened for the fall semester in 1963. Since then, the Heritage Hall campus was used as the junior high school for West Columbia, Brazoria and Damon students until the West Brazos Junior High School was opened in the Wild Peach/Latonia area between West Columbia and Brazoria. Since then the Columbia Heritage Foundation has been in charge of renovating and attempting to keep the old junior high gym and surrounding buildings in good shape to serve the public. The auditorium is leased by a church while the Heritage Foundation rents out what used to be the gymnasium (now Heritage Hall) and the adjoining room (now the Gusher Inn) for parties, large gatherings and, of course, the annual Roughneck Blowout which is the Heritage Foundation’s primary fundraiser each year.
Highlighting the online auction are tickets to a Houston Astros game and to the popular Houston Rodeo, a dessert-a-month for a year, an autographed photo of Houton Texans Hall of Famer Andre Johnson, a Roughnecks cooler donated by former Columbia High School Athletics Director and Head Football Coach Brian Lane, a painting of the Varner Hogg mansion by local artist Judy Kay Tomlin, a framed print of the Father of Texas, Stephen F. Austin, who died in West Columbia in 1836, and a gardener’s gift basket.
Other auction items that should receive a lot of competitive bids include 10 ribeye steaks from PHD Beef, G4 Beef Variety Meat Cuts and Cutting Board and Knife, a gas-powered chainsaw donated by Bob Barta Lumber Co., and the cleaning of three rooms at your home or business by OxiFresh Carpet Cleaning. Lake Jackson dentist Corby Gotcher, a graduate of Columbia High School, has donated 12 pounds of Wagyu Beef, four sausage links, a Wagyu loin tip roast, a Wagyu brisket and a Wagyu beef eye of round from his and his wife Jackie’s G4 Ranch to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. All of the online auction items have a minimum bid associated with them and most have a “buy it now” price listed for those who want to avoid getting into a bidding war.
Perennial Houston Astros All Star Second Baseman Jose Altuve is a draw at Minute Maid Park in Houston where a lucky winner of Astros game tickets in this year’s Roughneck Blowout online auction can see him play baseball.
Another popular auction item on this year’s Roughneck Blowout online auction will most likely be a West Columbia Shopping Spree. The winning bidder will receive 10 $50 gift cards to be used for purchases at Madeline’s Boutique, Carta Valley Market, Flowers by Mary Lee, Gypsy Treasure Resale, Lucy Goose Market, The Lady Bug, Mandy Jane’s, Not Forgotten, The Turquoise Saddle and The Boutique at Wells Florist. Also up for bid is a TnT cowboy hat and a dinner for 10 at Republic Barbecue in West Columbia.
So go online at givebutter.com/c/xyeyqx/auction and place your bids on the more than 50 auction items listed, then return to the website often to check on your bids. The winners of these impressive auction items will be announced at the Roughneck Blowout when the bidding closes at 9 p.m. on October 5, 2024. The directors of the Columbia Heritage Foundation appreciate everyone’s participation in all three auctions–live, silent and online–and look forward to seeing all of our old classmates and fellow Columbia High School alumni who will be attending this year’s Roughneck Blowout.
