Irish Christmas
Irish Christmas
Rotary Club continues an evening of holiday magic in memory of Bob McCarthy
ELLICOTTVILLE - “Bob McCarthy’s Irish Christmas”, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ellicottville, traditionally has been held as a live event each holiday season at the Ellicottville Brewing Company. However, last year’s event was made virtual due to Covid. It is an honor to continue this tradition for Bob, who touched so many in our community. We know it can never be the same since his passing, but Bob’s dedication to this event and the programs it benefits inspires us to continue with this magical evening.
It was McCarthy who said, “I love doing Irish Christmas which is a night of Irish magic. I don’t know how the magic gets there, but it just does. That’s the beauty of it.”
Well this year we need a little more of that magic to help guide our way.
We want to move back to the traditional live event, but fear that the Covid outbreak predicted for the holiday season may make that difficult. We are committed to keeping the spirit alive for 2021 as we continue to support two critical programs: Santa’s Workshop and the Santa Sheriff Program. This is especially important in light of the challenging circumstances for most families in need again this year. So, we have re-imagined Bob’s Irish Christmas with a dual approach.
We will auction off McCarthy and McCarthy-like unique pieces paired with fabulous baked goods from local donors, however, this year it will be a little different. We will combine the best of live and online bidding. This year’s donations have been awesome! We have over 20 auction pieces that will be on display at participating restaurants and businesses in the village, just as we did last year. Bidding and winning an item will be simple: You will have three ways to bid:
You will be able to view and bid on each item displayed at any one of the locations using the QR Code connecting you to the online site.
You can view and bid on any or all items at the online auction site: BrooksLeFeberAuctions.com or ellicottvillerotary.com.
Be part of the final live or live/online auction on Friday, December 17th at 7:00 PM at Ellicottville Brewing Company. We are hoping that the Covid situation will allow us to hold the live event, as usual at EBC, by moving to their Outdoor Beer Garden. Details will follow in this paper as the event date nears.
All guests who have experienced the frenzied bidding at the live event in past years know this is the favorite part of Irish Christmas. Auctioneer Brooks LeFeber promises a fun-filled Ellicottville centric auction live and online. Having learned a lot from last year’s event, the bidding process has been refined to maximize your experience.
As in previous years, each auction item will be accompanied by a fabulous baked pie, cake or dessert homemade by Ellicottville’s best bakers. Those desserts will be represented by a photo with the auction piece display but provided fresh on auction day. For those who would like to donate a dessert, please contact Katy Arena at Katy’s Café.
You will be able to view the fabulous offerings displayed at the individual locations and online from November 27th through Friday, December 17th. A list of all these auction items will be published in the coming weeks in this paper as well as on the two websites above so you can peruse them at your leisure.
We guarantee you will love the unique handcrafted auction pieces so make sure you check them out. There will be posters throughout the village and details in the local papers or you can call Greg at 716-474-7832 with any questions.
The Rotary Club’s Family Support for Ellicottville thanks all for supporting this local tradition to help make a Christmas a little nicer for those in need.