Local News

Fundraiser Auction Offers Prime Eclipse Viewing

MADRAS, OR --The Oregon State Parks Foundation hopes to capitalize on excitement over this summer’s solar eclipse. Executive Director Seth Miller says the nonprofit will auction off 30 campsites inside the Crooked River Campground at Cove Palisades State Park in Jefferson County. "The reservations that we’re selling are for four nights, Friday through Monday of the Solar eclipse weekend. And, in order to help people kind of figure out what they wanted to bid, we decided to break it down into sections in the auction."

 

Click HERE to preview campsites available in the auction.

 

But, there is a catch: you must become a foundation member by 4 p.m. Friday, which requires a tax deductible donation of at least $25. "At 4:30 an email will go out to all members with a link for them to be able to participate in the auction, to register their name and put a credit card number in. Then that will show them all the different spaces that are available and they can decide which ones they want to bid on." The online auction then begins at 5 p.m. and will be conducted similar to E-Bay, although there is no "buy it now" option. Bidders can watch to see if they get outbid, "They will immediately receive both a text and an email message and they’ll have a chance to go in and increase their bid." Bidding will end on a rolling basis over five nights, with the first six sites closing at 8 p.m., Monday. Six more will close at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and the following Monday. 

 

Miller says the organization secured the sites before they sold out, last month. "We’ve been holding on to them, knowing there was demand. We didn’t expect it to be quite as popular as this turned out to be, but we figured we would hold on to them for a little while and then auction them off to our members as we got closer; so that’s what we’re doing now." And, he tells KBND News, he's not sure what to expect, "I’d heard such wild stories about what’s happening with campground spaces and lodging spaces across the state, but in Central Oregon in particular. And these spaces are so close to the central line of the zone of totality and there’s so little capacity elsewhere in the state that I imagine these are going to be pretty popular."
 
For more details, visit the Oregon State Parks Foundation website
 
 
Eclipse Coverage on KBND is supported in part by Awnings Unlimited. Shade yourself from the sun with Awnings Unlimited at 5541-389-1619 and awningsunlimited.net.
 
Eclipse Coverage on KBND is supported in part by Awnings Unlimited. Shade yourself from the sun with Awnings Unlimited at 5541-389-1619 and awningsunlimited.net.

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