Central Elementary celebrated a successful barbecue dinner and auction fundraiser on Thursday evening.

A total of 450 tickets were sold for the dinner. People were lined out the door and up the hallways for more than an hour. Everyone enjoyed the dinner and the great auction.

The total amount of money raised by the dinner, the online eBay auction of autographed guitars, and the live auction of other music collectibles brought in around $8,000 to help support the school’s music education program.

Jackson Humphreys, a student at Central Elementary, won the ticket drawing to win the new Fender guitar.

All of the eBay guitars sold, several bringing in large donations. The Dolly Parton guitar sold for $520, the Carrie Underwood sold for $565, the Hank Williams brought in $470, and the school got $510 for The Beach Boys guitar.

Dr. Dawn Taylor, who helped organize the event, and Central Elementary Principal Terry Morley wish to thank the faculty and staff of the school and everyone for coming out to support Central Elementary School and the students of Carter County.

“This guitar music education program is such a wonderful thing for the students. We appreciate all of the faculty and staff of the school, the Central school community, and all the TriCities communities for coming out to  support this wonderful and worthy cause to help the boys and girls in the Carter County School System,” Taylor said.

The school is planning to hose another auction in October to sell additional autographed guitars, with the proceeds once again going into the music education program.

“ I think the fall auction will be even more fun,” Taylor said. “That event will occur close to the

holiday season. A unique guitar would be a fantastic gift idea for someone special. Perhaps an Alice Cooper, Kelsea Ballerini, Vince Gill, or Kentucky HeadHunters guitar would be perfect for your someone. These

are only four names of about 50 that will be available in the upcoming

fall auction.”