Chair Auction to Support Nights of Shelter

Hello Friends!

Everybody knows the story about how Rudolph and those other eight reindeer helped guide Santa through that foggy Christmas Eve.  This year the reindeer and Southard House Bed and Breakfast Inn are helping Santa find safe shelter for some local kids in need. Rudolph and his friends are raising money for the Nights of Shelter campaign, which supports the Youth and Family Services emergency youth shelter here in Enid.

In this case the reindeer are being played by nine vintage dining chairs originally from the former Richill's Cafeteria.

 Many of you may remember Richill's Cafeteria, which long was a staple of the downtown dining scene in the location currently occupied by Napoli's Italian Restaurant at 221 W. Randolph.

Many of you may remember Richill's for its food, or the train that ran around the ceiling of the restaurant, or the talking parrot, or perhaps the great holiday parties.  Now, you have a chance to own a piece of downtown history with one of these well-built vintage dining chairs.

The chairs, all made around 1984, are constructed of hard wood with vinyl seats and backs and rolling casters.

Marty Tydings, former owner of Southard House, purchased the chairs when Richill's closed the downtown restaurant. The chairs are in excellent condition, just like they were the last time you were in Richill's.

Even if Richill's was before your time in Enid these chairs still are an excellent choice for a “man cave,” kids' rooms, desk chairs, retro decorating, or dining chairs.

Since there are nine of these chairs, and in keeping with the holiday season, each of the chairs has been assigned a reindeer name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and of course, Rudolph.  We're auctioning off these "reindeer" with every penny of the proceeds going to benefit Nights of Shelter.

Since the shelter was opened in 1974, Youth and Family Services has provided more than 24,000 nights of food, shelter, and services to more than 1,900 children in need.

Many of these kids have been abused or neglected at home, or come from families that simply don't have the money to support them.

Budget cuts have hurt Youth and Family's ability to help these kids. In response to the crisis, the shelter initiated the Nights of Shelter campaign, allowing people to make donations in increments of $30, the average cost of sheltering one child for one night. 

We're hoping each of our “reindeer” will bring in enough money for at least one night of shelter. To get things started, the starting bid for each chair is $20. Bids will only be taken in dollar amounts … no raising by pennies please.  Since all the payment for winning bids goes directly to Youth and Family Services, anything you bid beyond the fair market value of the chair is tax deductible.  Tax receipts can be obtained from Youth and Family Services at the front desk.

All reindeer bids will be taken through the Southard House Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SouthardHouse. Bid on your favorite “reindeer” by name by Facebook message to Southard House. Example: Blitzen, $30.

The auction will run Dec. 3 – noon Dec. 17. Bids will be updated daily through Dec. 16, and will be taken live by post comments up to noon on Dec. 17.

All payments for winning bids should be made directly to the Nights of Shelter campaign at www.yfsenid.org or in person at 605 W. Oxford.

Chairs will be delivered in Enid after confirmation of payment to Youth and Family Services, or you can make arrangements for pick-up through Facebook message to Southard House.

We would greatly appreciate you sharing this information on Facebook so we can help as many kids as possible, and "like" the Southard House page on Facebook to follow the auction.

Please help us raise money for Nights of Shelter, help some local kids in need, and take home your own “reindeer” on wheels!  We appreciate your support of this important campaign!  Unitl next time . . .

May You Be Blessed!

The Neals