More than ten years ago, a wooden bench was sold at the Brown County Children’s Auction and from there it stayed in Indianapolis until this year when it went up for bid once again.
Now the bench has returned home to Brown County, just in time for Christmas, and it will remain here with the family of the man who built it years ago.
Local woodworker, Don Kelp, donated the sturdy wooden bench to the auction in 2008. The winning bid came from an Indianapolis woman who had visited Brown County since she was a child.
As an adult, the woman found herself at the auctions. She would purchase different items related to Nashville and Brown County. But this year, she donated the bench back to the auction.
The winning bid this year was made by Kelp’s daughter, Donna Kelp Lutes.
Don passed away May 13, 2018. Thelma, his wife of 64 years, was at the auction when her daughter made the bid to bring Don’s bench back home. Thelma said that she was “pretty proud” of Donna’s winning bid.
“We wanted it to come back to the family,” she said.
Her husband had made quite a few benches including one that sits in her bedroom now. The bench at the auction is now with Lutes’ husband.
Kelp was a veteran of the U.S. Army and served in the Korean War. After the war he returned home to Indiana and worked at Cummins until he retired in 1987.
A corner of Don and Thelma’s living room where he often sat is a dedicated space to him. A painted portrait of him smiling hangs on the wall above a rocking chair and an American flag in a shadow box sits behind a frame with photos of him and his bride as teenagers.
On the frame hangs his U.S. Army dog tags.
“He was a good man,” Thelma said as she looks over at their photo.
Woodworking was one of his favorite hobbies, the couple’s home is filled with pieces made in his workshop, including the rustic coffee table in the center of the living room.
“Anything he thought he’d like to make, he made,” Thelma said.
Lutes said that her father would go to yard sales, find a broken hammer, fix its hammer and sell it again. Democrat archives show Marketplace advertisements letting the community know about his annual sale at his home.
But he was most known for his benches.
Don never went to the auctions, but his benches would bring in about $400 or $500 each year, Lutes said.
He had been involved in woodworking since the 1980s when he bought a Woodmizer sawmill to create slabs for the benches he eventually started building.
Don would donate benches to the No Name Committee that organizes the Brown County Children’s Christmas Auction each year.
“It first started with that little pig,” Thelma said in a 2007 interview with the Democrat, as she pointed to a glass case in their living room.
Inside the case on the bottom shelf, a flat wooden pig the size of a softball sat among a set of assorted curiosities, the light wood making it a prominent feature of the collection.
Don explained in 2007 that when one of the members of the committee approached him about donating to the auction, he donated a wooden pig similar to the one in that case, and his “little toy wooden pig” sold for more than $100.
He then began building and donating benches to the auction.
The bench he made for the auction in 2007 was built with cherry wood that had been cut on his own land.
Once the works were finished, Don signed the bench with its completion date. The bench his daughter bought in the auction is stamped “Don – Thelma Kelp 12 2008”
Thelma said it was his signature on benches and other items that he made.
“I didn’t help him a lot, but I helped,” she said of why he stamped her name too.
This year, Lutes planned ahead to buy the one he had donated back in 2008.
“It feels good,” Thelma said about having the bench back.
“It’ll stay in the family.”
Going once, going twice
Last year the annual Brown County Children’s Auction was held online due to COVID-19 and about $10,000 was raised. This year around $21,000 was raised, Birkemeier said.
The funds are used to buy vouchers for families that can be redeemed at Walmart in Columbus allowing them to purchase clothes and diapers for children.
Forty-four years ago, a group of Brown County locals sat on the Liar’s Bench and talked about a way to ensure that all kids in the Brown County school system have warm clothes for winter. Together they came up with the idea to gather donations from local merchants and hold an auction then the Brown County Children’s Auction was born.
The event is always held the first Friday of December each year.
Birkemeier and her family have been involved in the auction since its beginning in 1977. They started as the “No Name Committee,” trying to keep the names of those involved out of the limelight. Around three or four years ago, it became a 501c3 and that required identifying committee members, Birkemeier said.
The “Ladies from Indy” is an anonymous group who has been a large supporter of the auction for many years and help facilitate it each year, Birkemeier said.
As years have gone on, the group has witnessed the younger generations of original committee founders getting involved with the auction. The group still operates with as little recognition as possible.
“Every penny that we raise is spent on clothing for the kids,” she said. “It’s all volunteer. And it’s fun. It’s lots and lots of work, but it’s fun.”
A framed sketch of Santa Claus was the highest-bidding item this year, selling for $1,000. It was given back to the Brown County Inn by the bidder, as thanks for being the site of this year’s auction.
The most interesting item put up for bid? A life-size plastic horse that sold for $600, Birkemeier said.
The auction features donated art, crafts, antiques, donated items from local merchants, gift certificates for local restaurants and hotels. Many outside organizations also donate gifts to the auction including Holiday World and the Cincinnati Reds.
Next year’s auction will be Dec. 2, 2022.
