In just a few days, a local protection association will be putting on a unique “chair-ity” auction fundraiser.

The Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association (NBPA) is sponsoring the first of its kind chair-ity auction from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday inside the old McGinty’s building.

“It is just a general fundraiser,” said Kay Hively, co-organizer of the event. “It got started when some friends and I went to a festival in Iowa last fall and we were looking at their agenda and it said, ‘chair-ity’ auction. I thought that they had misspelled ‘charity.’ So we went over to see what was going on and here it is, it was chairs. So we thought that it was a cool idea and they were doing it at a festival, so you could vote and bid all day long. So that is where we first heard about it.”

Putting out the word to NBPA members and the general public, the response took off. More than 20 chairs have since been donated to the fundraiser.

“We have all kinds of chairs. We have a garden chair, a high chair, sports chairs and others,” Hively said. “We have a Missouri Tigers stadium seat autographed by the coach (Gary Pinkel) and a wonderful poster signed by the team. You can’t sell the poster because you can’t sell what students do, but we are going to sell the seat and you get the poster. It is their Cotton Bowl poster, which has the score on it.”

Two more sports chairs are one signed by Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals and Curtis McClinton signed a Kansas City Chiefs seat.

“And some of our local artists, Billie Stewart and Doug Hall, have painted chairs,” Hively said. “We actually got a pair of chairs from Gail Elery from Newtonia. They are something that he had sitting in his garage and they were cleaned up, polished and they just turned up beautifully. So we gave one to Billie and one to Doug, and turned them loose on it. Billie, who actually has two, has scenes of the Neosho National Fish Hatchery and Big Spring Park. Doug did an Indian feather.

“They are some just neat old chairs that you could set in your hallway or bedroom,” noted Hively. “Most of them are old chairs, we are not talking that you can go to the store and buy one, but they are in great shape, you can sit in all of them, and you can look at them.”

The chairs have all been cleaned up and are currently displayed in the window of the old McGinty’s building.

Those who want to bid may come in Tuesday at the specified times. They will receive a bid sheet, with the time they came in, and can then place their sealed bid on the chairs they want to bid on. The bids start off at $5 each.

Proceeds go back to the NBPA.

“I don’t know if they have the proceeds earmarked, but there is a lot of restoration going on, lots of cleanup,” Hively said. “At one time, we thought about designating it to highway signs, but a donor came through and paid for those, so there is always plenty to use the money for.”

Hively is hoping to see a good turnout to the event.

“Personally, I would like to see $1,000 come from it,” said Hively.

The event is a “come and go,” where at 8 p.m. the organizers will open the sealed bids and contact the winner.

“Those wanting to come back at 8 p.m. and see who won the chairs can do so,” said Hively.

After the event, the organizers asked that the winners pick up their chairs or the chairs will be taken to the organizers’ homes, and the winners will have to arrange for them to pick them up. That is because the organizers will have to vacate the building.

“Everybody has an old chair somewhere and to somebody they will be a treasure,” said Hively.