Rocking chair auction leaves kids’ museum sitting pretty

BANGOR – The Maine Discovery Museum raised $24,000 Saturday at “Sitting Pretty,” the museum’s benefit gala dinner auction at Norumbega Hall.

Andrea Stark, executive director, said the children’s rocking chairs, decorated by 65 Maine artists, were sold at a silent and live auction at the Bangor event attended by 270 people.

It was the first time the children’s museum, located in the former Freese’s Department Store in downtown Bangor, has auctioned off the rocking chairs. The museum’s operating budget is about $500,000 per year, according to Stark.

The average price paid for each chair was $500, Stark said Sunday. “Wynkin’, Blynkin’ and Nod,” the chair created by Bangor book artist Jan Owen, was bought for $1,500 by Karna Olssen of Orono.

“This gives a great boost to our annual fund drive, which we are in the midst of right now,” Stark said Sunday. “It was a great party. The spirit of the evening was quite festive and upbeat. We saw that the community really supports the museum.”

One chair, called “Nighty Night,” was purchased by Sanford Miller of Bangor and donated back to the museum, she said.

Museum staff and officials plan to consider seriously whether to make the auction an annual event, Stark said.