After going virtual last year due to COVID concerns, the Carrie Young Memorial Dinner and Auction came back in a big way as several hundred people filled the John Day Elks Lodge on Friday, Dec. 3, to eat, drink, socialize and support one of Grant County’s most cherished causes.

With the pandemic still lingering, event organizer Lucie Immoos wasn’t sure what kind of a turnout to expect this year. But on Friday night, as she watched throngs of people browsing the rows of festively displayed auction items, her eyes shone with excitement.

“Isn’t this amazing?” she asked.

Immoos started the Carrie Young Memorial Drive for the Elderly in 1993 to honor the memory of her older sister, who was killed in a car wreck at age 32. After Carrie Young’s untimely death, her family discovered she had been quietly buying Christmas presents for some of the residents of the nursing home where she worked, Blue Mountain Care Center in Prairie City.

That first year, Immoos raised a little over $50 from her Forest Service co-workers, enough to buy gifts for a small number of nursing home residents. But the idea caught on. Fueled by Immoos’ dedication and infectious energy, the event has grown steadily, with volunteers flocking to the cause and businesses and individuals donating valuable items for auction.

Today the drive serves residents of four Grant County nursing homes and more than 200 homebound seniors throughout the county.

“I come home sometimes and there’s stuff dropped off in my carport,” Immoos told the Eagle in an interview on the eve of this year’s dinner and auction.

Auction items are collected throughout the year and kept in storage until around the first weekend in November, when they are brought to Keerins Hall at the Grant County Fairgrounds and rough-sorted into themed gift baskets by some of Immoos’ many volunteers. Then Teri Bowden, owner of A Flower Shop and More in John Day, goes to work, putting the finishing touches on each basket to get it ready for the silent auction.

“She puts it all together,” Immoos said. “She just has an eye for it and she makes it all pretty.”

For this year’s auction, 201 gift baskets were assembled by the crew and arrayed on tables at the Elks Lodge, where attendees could get a good look at the merchandise and write down their bids.

Some baskets were filled with children’s toys, others with adults-only goodies such as beer, wine or spirits. Some baskets were built around tools or kitchenware, others around hunting and fishing supplies – one held a complete ice fishing setup, while another came with everything you might need for a deer hunting camp. Yet another basket included a coupon redeemable for a live, 800-pound steer.

Once the auction is over and the money toted up, Immoos and a group of volunteers head to the Walmart store in Ontario for a major shopping expedition. Armed with wish lists from Grant County nursing home residents, they fan out through the store to fulfill their mission.

Each resident gets toiletries such as shampoo and hand lotion and usually some basic clothing items like socks and underwear. But they can request other goodies as well.

“I don’t care what’s on their list,” Immoos said. “If I have the money, I’m going to get it.”

One year, for instance, an 80-year-old female resident at Blue Mountain Care Center said she wanted a margarita and some M&Ms for Christmas. Immoos didn’t bat an eye.

“By God, we got her some Cuervo and margarita mix and some M&Ms,” Immoos recalled. “I figure if you’re 80 years old, you should have whatever you want.”

Immoos and her team also keep track of vulnerable elderly people living independently throughout the county and look after their needs as well.

“They’re very prideful people; they don’t ask for help,” she said. “A lot of them are vets, a lot of them are retired loggers or ranchers with no pension living on very limited Social Security.”

For these people, funds raised through the annual Carrie Young auction purchase gift certificates to local grocery stores as well as heating oil, firewood or electricity vouchers to get them through a Blue Mountain winter.

“They all get some form of groceries and some form of heat,” Immoos said.

Last year, Immoos said, the Carrie Young Memorial raised more than $48,000 – despite the fact that the in-person event had to be scrapped at the last minute because of COVID protocols and converted into a radio auction, conducted live on KJDY. The money, a record amount, was enough to provide Christmas presents for 52 nursing home residents and holiday season assistance to between 225 and 250 Grant County elders.

Asked why the event has become such a big deal, Immoos said it just seems to mesh with Grant County’s values.

“There’s a lot of elderly in this community, and we know each other,” she said. “I just think Grant County’s a very giving place. Everybody looks after each other here.”

That community spirit was on full display at the Elks Lodge Friday night.

Kathleen Madsen, a recent transplant from Bend to Canyon City, was astonished by the turnout.

“I’ve been to a lot of big charity events,” she said. “But I’ve never seen community participation like this.”

John Day Mayor Ron Lundbom, who has had more time to witness the event’s growth, was more proud than surprised.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “It keeps getting better every year.”

As if to prove him right, Immoos reported after the event that this year’s memorial set yet another new fundraising record: $49,972.77.

The big ticket item in this year’s Carrie Young Memorial Auction was a Franklin saddle donated by Bub Warren, an 80-year-old former Prairie City resident who is now a well-known saddle maker.

According to event organizer Lucie Immoos, Warren came back to town for a visit and stopped in to see some old friends at the Blue Mountain Care Center, where he learned about the work done by the Carrie Young Memorial.

“He went to visit the old codgers at the nursing home in Prairie,” Immoos said, “and said he was completely blown away by what we were able to do for the residents through our organization, and he wanted to give back.”

Some of Warren’s custom saddles sell for thousands of dollars, so rather than auction off the hand-tooled leather beauty in one night, Immoos decided to hold a yearlong raffle. Tickets are $20 apiece or six for $100 and can be purchased in several ways:

• Mail a check to Carrie Young Memorial, P.O. Box 192, John Day, OR 97845.

• Send money via Venmo @CarrieYoung-Memorial.

• Call Immoos at 541-620-2098.

The raffle winner will be announced at next year’s dinner.