Silent Auction at 2001 SEMA Show Raises $84,000 for SEMA Scholarships
SILENT AUCTION AT 2001 SEMA SHOW*ITE RAISES $84,000 FOR SEMA SCHOLARSHIPS Diamond Bar, Calif. (Nov. 6, 2001) - A 2002 Ford Explorer donated by Ford Motor Co. added $39,000 to the SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund during the 2001 SEMA Show*ITE held last week in Las Vegas. Total proceeds from the auction with 169 items available for bid totaled nearly $84,000, according to SEMA Businesswomen’s Network (SBN) liaison Liz Lombardo of the SEMA staff. "Without Ford’s generosity and the efforts of Nicole Schoen of the Ford Truck Image Team, this auction wouldn’t have been as successful as it was," Lombardo said. Marvin Miller of DMV Marketing, Richmond Hill, Ont., Canada made the winning bid for the Explorer, which had been customized with an outdoors theme using many SEMA member products. Vic Freeman of Sparkle Auto, Garden City, Kan., bid $3,800 on a customized Vespa scooter, his second consecutive vehicle purchase from the auction. In 2000, Freeman had the winning bid on the Ford Explorer SportTrac which starred in last year’s auction. Other noteworthy items in the auction included Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s racing suit which went for $2,900, a custom upholstered in flames executive chair ($1,050), an Indianapolis 500 Brickyard brick ($500), and an antique silver champagne chiller ($400.) Proceeds from the auction, held every year at the SEMA Show and organized by the SEMA SBN, go to support SEMA’s Memorial Scholarship program. This year SEMA awarded 24 scholarships for a total of $48,000 to upperclass undergraduate students preparing for careers in the automotive specialty equipment industry. Applications for the 2002 SEMA Scholarship program will be available after the first of the year. Ken Pyle, SEMA educational services director, 909/396-0289, x 125, kenp@sema.org, has more information about the scholarship program. Lombardo, 909/396-0289, x 105, lizl@sema.org, has more information about the SEMA Silent Auction. SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, represents the $24.86 billion specialty automotive industry. The trade association is composed of nearly 4,800 member companies, and is the authoritative source of research data, trends and market growth information for automakers and the specialty auto products industry. The industry provides appearance, performance, safety, comfort, convenience and technology products for passenger cars, minivans, pickups, SUVs and recreational vehicles. It's a specialty market as old as the automobile and as new as cutting-edge technology. For more information, please contact SEMA at 1575 S. Valley Vista Dr., Diamond Bar, CA 91765; call 909/396-0289; or visit www.sema.org or www.enjoythedrive.com.