by Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
For 62 years, the Pilot Club of Jacksonville has organized and hosted an antiques show and sale to raise money for charity. It’s the service group’s major annual fundraiser.
And each year, club officers and members are expected to work diligently to make the show a success.
With the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Arena next door, the Pilot Club of Jacksonville held its 62nd Annual Charities Antiques Show and Sale Friday-Sunday at the Jacksonville Fairground.
The club’s more than 40 members organize the event, work with the dealers, sell tickets for weeks in advance, seek advertising, assist at the door, collect silent auction items, work with the Pilot Pantry cafe or maybe just bake a cake.
In addition to her other responsibilities, Gail Pender, the 2008-09 club president, increased her individual rum cake production to 12 this year and was told she had to double that next year.
That’s probably a good idea. The show began Friday and the cakes were gone, at $3 each, by lunchtime Saturday.
The first show took place Jan. 22-24, 1950, at the George Washington Hotel Downtown.
Two-time president and this year’s Antiques Show Manager Karyl DeSousa said the event moved over the years, including to the Mayflower Hotel, the Jacksonville Civic Center, the Osborn Center and then to its current venue, the Fairgrounds, where it wrapped up its third year this past weekend.
This year, 36 exhibitors sold and displayed antiques including china, crystal, silver, jewelry, artwork and books. The show also featured a vintage auto display, a silent auction and those desserts made by Pilot Club members.
The Pilot Club of Jacksonville was chartered in 1934 by 15 businesswomen to promote participation in activities that improve the community. The club is a volunteer organization of executive, business and professional leaders.
Pilot International began in Macon, Ga., in 1921. According to www.pilotclubjax.com, the name was inspired by the riverboat pilots of the day who represented leadership and guidance. The international group has grown to more than 12,000 members.
Proceeds from the antiques show, as well as other smaller fundraisers throughout the year, are returned to the community.
Ticket sales, program advertising, the Pilot Pantry and dessert sales, booth rentals and the silent auction sales contribute to the show’s bottom line.
DeSousa said final figures aren’t available for this year’s net proceeds. Depending on the economy, the show has been raising $13,000 to $20,000 each year, she said.
This year’s show program says that in 2010-11, the club has donated to at least nine organizations, including Angelwood, Girls Inc., Communities In Schools and Volunteers In Medicine.
Through the years, the club has supported many area nonprofits and organizations, as well as sponsoring service-oriented Anchor Clubs at Bishop Kenny and Bishop John Snyder high schools.
In 1935, the Pilot Club of Jacksonville helped to organize The Civic Round Table of Jacksonville. It has also campaigned for funds to build the YMCA and establish the Child Guidance Center and other organizations.
DeSousa said the club’s antiques show is the second oldest in the Southeast and if the show in Nashville folds, “we’ll be the oldest.”
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