CET's Action Auction

This year, CET's (Channel 48) annual Action Auction featured a weekend of excitement, including a spectacular preview party; a new, big-ticket auction and an afternoon for bargain hunters.

The weekend kicked off with a jungle-themed preview party chaired by Ariel Lusco.

The Netherland Rubber Co. sponsored the event at Channel 48's Crosley Telecommunications Center.

The 500-plus guests were able to pre-bid on some of the best items featured in the next day's auction.

The weekend Action Auction included a Connoisseur's Auction, special Wine Day selections from around the world and a Wild and Wonderful Barn Extravaganza sale at the studios.

Fidelity Investment's Kevin Canafax again served as chair of the Action Auction. Proceeds will support the public television programming of CET.

Boys & Girls Clubs Achievement Luncheon

Astronaut Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, spoke at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati's annual Achievement Luncheon. More than 500 guests purchased the $50 tickets to attended the event at Xavier University's Cintas Center.

Jemison, a chemist and physician who was aboard the space shuttle Endeavor, presented this year's Youth of the Year Award to Jerritt Hayes, a member of the Boys & Girls Club in Avondale and a senior at Purcell Marian High School in East Walnut Hills. Other finalists for Youth of the Year Award included Jeremy Head, Devon Boxx, Nicole Stallkamp and Jasmaine Larry. Presenting Sponsors Cincinnati Bell and Frost, Brown and Todd added $10,000 to the net proceeds

AVOC exhibit and sale

AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati (AVOC), a non-profit organization founded in 1983, was the beneficiary of the "Beautiful Expression: A Look at AIDS through Art" exhibit and sale. The event was hosted at the Mockbee, a new gallery in Brighton, during AIDS Awareness Week, which ended Saturday.

"We are excited about the opportunity to teach AIDS education through the expression of art," said Victoria Brooks, AVOC executive director. "Through this different medium of expression, we are able to touch people in new ways while still providing a powerful message that HIV and AIDS are still present in Cincinnati."

From the 100 guests at the exhibition's opening night reception and sales throughout the show, an estimated $5,000 was raised for AVOC.