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29 YSU Penguins Dressed and Ready to Go
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The Penguin Parade public arts project culminates with Friday's celebration in Stambaugh Auditorium, where 29 seven-foot-tall fiberglass penguins will be auctioned off to the highest bidders. Bidding for each penguin is expected to start at about $1,000."This is the culminating event of a project that was started more than 18 months ago and that has sparked a true sense of community pride and spirit," said Catherine Cala, associate director of the Office of Development at Youngstown State University. Penguin Parade, sponsored by the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley and YSU, is a public arts project that debuted at the Summer Festival of the Arts on the YSU campus in July. Thirty penguin sculptures, colorfully-decorated by local artists, were then placed at public locations throughout Mahoning and Trumbull counties. Last week, all of the penguins were moved to the Eastwood Mall, Niles, where they are on exhibit under the gazebo in the mall's Center Court.Tomorrow, the penguins will be moved to the ballroom of Stambaugh Auditorium, where they will be auctioned beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday. J. Paul Basinger of Basinger Auction Service in North Lima will conduct the auction. Amanda Beagle, YSU graduate and Miss Ohio 2004, and David Luscher, YSU graduate and associate director of WYSU FM, will assist. The auction will be preceded by hors d'oeuvres, desserts, live jazz and a cash bar at 6 p.m., reported Karen DeAmicis of Home Savings & Loan Co., co-chairman of the public arts project. Tickets for the auction are $50 and can be purchased at the door. Corporate-sponsored tables of eight cost $500. More than 300 tickets for the auction have been sold. Participants who want to bid on a penguin must purchase a ticket for the auction, register at the event and receive a bid number. Bids also are being taken on line at www.basingerauctions.com.At the end of the auction, the winning ticket in the raffle for the Hot Rod Penguin will be drawn. More than 1,000 tickets, at $5 each, have been sold for a chance to win the penguin. Tickets are available at area Key Bank locations and will be sold at the auction.Proceeds from the event and the auction benefit the YSU McDonough Museum of Art, YSU's SMARTS program, the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley and its endowment funds.For more information, call the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley at (330) 743-5555.Visit Youngstown State University: www.ysu.edu"