The new Davidson Swimming Pool committee rode a tidal wave of support from members of the community earlier this month to raise an overwhelming amount of funds towards their effort to finance the building of a new pool and pool house.

Committee member Jessie Foster said the group raised $239,000 at the April 17 community auction held in the Davidson Rink. She said this amount includes a generous donation during the auction of $10,000 each from Western Sales and Young’s Equipment as well as a $100,000 donation from the Davidson Kinsmen.

“Our group was surprised and delighted with the attendance and the support that was given,” said Foster, adding 281 people came to the rink for the social evening. “It was amazing. The energy there was amazing.”

Foster said there were so many people at the rink that some were forced to stand at the back, but that didn’t stop anybody from frequenting the bar run by the Kinsmen and purchasing the many hot appetizers such as chicken wings and pizzas that were auctioned off during the night.

“People just drank and ate and visited and had lots of fun,” she said. “There was lots of visiting and happiness happening.”

The generosity displayed by the bidders for the over 100 items during the live portion of the auction was evident from the start, noted Foster. She said this was proved by the $1,200 price tag that a selection of homemade buns went for in the early going.

“That set the tone of the event that this was for charity and it was for building the pool and people were there to support that,” said Foster, adding another high early bid was the $3,000 paid for a John Deere Weber barbecue and JMR meat package. “It was wonderful to start off the night like that.”

In addition to the committee’s upcoming annual bottle drive, Foster said the next event they are looking into is holding a Drive Ford event where Ford brings new vehicles to town for people to test drive and then donates money depending on how many vehicles were driven. Until that time, she said the committee would just like to show their appreciation to everyone who came to the auction and made it such a resounding success.

“We really want to thank everybody who helped make the night so amazing.”