By: Tim Kays
Sometimes, a blizzard is more than just a big snow event. Sometimes it can be strong enough to be catagorized as ‘severe’, with far-reaching effects.
A severe blizzard is characterized by wind speeds of 45 mph or higher accompanied by a great density of falling and/or blowing snow that frequently reduces visibilities to near zero, along with temperatures generally 10 degrees or lower.
The January 25-27 Blizzard of 1978 easily met and exceeded that description, with heavy snow, wind chills as low as -60 F and wind gusts to nearly 100 mph. Here in Northwest Ohio, snowdrifts as tall as houses were a common sight, and snowmobile owners were called into action to transport health care workers to and from the hospital, and to assist in emergency services.
While there were more than a few who could see nothing good coming out of the monster storm, Luke Thaman did, and four decades later his vision still stands as the WBNO/WQCT Blizzard Auction.
One would have to know Luke Thaman to fully understand how he turned the memory of a life-threatening trial into a blessing for several local charities and non-profits.
Luke was the epitome of the ‘irresistible force’, a seemingly endless wellspring of energy, always in motion. Where others saw only rocks, he saw an opportunity for diamonds. The then general manager of WBNO AM/FM, Luke also served as the sales manager.
One of his creations was the Action Auction, where radio listeners would call in to the station to place live, on-the-air bids on goods and services provided by local businesses. In 1979, Thaman added a twist to the concept, and it made history.
“It was the first year after the blizzard,” said Andy Brigle of WBNO/WQCT. “They wanted to do something to commemorate that, and it just so happened that at the time the fairgrounds grandstand had been burned down. It was an arson event.
Luke Thaman was very active on the fair board at the time, and agreed to do a benefit auction to raise money for the rebuilding of the new grandstand. And so that’s how the whole thing started. It’s been done every single year since for a variety of either Williams County organizations, or Northwest Ohio organizations.
There was a group called child Conquer Childhood Cancer Now based out of Defiance, but they affected parents, families and child cancer patients in Williams County as well, but it was more like a Northwest Ohio organization.”
This year, the Blizzard Auction came full circle. 42 years after the first Blizzard Auction, the beneficiaries of the 2021 event were, once again, the Williams County Agricultural Society. “The gross was about $20,000,” said Agricultural Society President Matthew Kennedy.
“After you take out your expenses for putting it in newspapers, etcetera, we’re right down about $18,500. That is going to be used on replacing roofs on the livestock barns back there.”
“I’m going to ask the board to focus on the first one being on the beef barn. Your beef, your dairy and sheep barn, and your swine barn, those roofs need to be replaced. They’re old; the beef barn is in the worst shape.”
“We’re all thrilled that we’re able to receive it,” Kennedy continued. “You know, it’s a lot of hard work, but it’s going towards a project that is needed. And it helps, it goes back basically to support the kids to have a Junior Fair, to put a roof on the barns back there for them.”
“So thanks to everybody who donated items, and thanks to all those who all those bidders who helped make it possible. It’s a great event. We’re thankful that we got selected, and it’s going to help improve maintenance on the buildings there for the kids during Fair. It all goes back to the kids.”
“We want to continue to do it,” Brigle said, “…as long as organizations want to keep doing it. We pick organizations each year to try to spread the wealth as much as we can, but we also know that it takes a bunch of volunteers to pull it off.”
“So you have to find the right organization that has volunteers available, because the organization is in charge of going out and gathering all of these items.”
It’s awfully hard to find somebody with the energy of a Luke Thaman. “It’s hard to find those people with energy that have nothing to do with the radio station,” Brigle added, and that has become problematic.
“People assume that we do a lot. We put it on the air, and then we sell some advertising on the day of the event. We will guide the organization along, but it’s all that group that goes out and collects all these items that we auction off on that last Saturday in January every year.”
“It was about three years ago, it was borderline ending. We had a couple of organizations say no, just because they didn’t have the manpower to go physically get these items, and then man it the day of. It’s getting harder and harder to find groups that want to take it on, but we want to keep doing that as long as humanly possible.”
Tim can be reached at tim@thevillagereporter.com
