1. Need a New Coat? - Sean Hruby, Hruby Painting
Painting contractor with over 20 years experience offers one day of free labor. Will paint a medium sized bedroom, kitchen or office. Materials will be billed at cost.
Quantity: 1
Starting Bid: $100

2. An Evening of Wine! - Sherry Wilson & Laz Escalona
Before moving to northern Illinois, Laz & Sherry owned a small vineyard and boutique winery in southern California. Over more than 10 years, they learned a lot about growing wine grapes and making wine. They would like to share their experiences with you. In addition to an educational experience, there will be lots of wine tasting and food. If you’d like to learn more about wine, come for An Evening of Wine!
    - Saturday, February 22, 2025, 5:30pm
    - Saturday, April 5, 2025, 5:30pm
Quantity: 6 people max per date
Starting Bid: $70 per person

3. Calling all “Antiques Roadshow” Fans - Kathleen Doyle
Do you have a piece of fine art, antique furniture, jewelry or collectible that you have long wondered what it is worth? Are you interested in selling, insuring, donating, passing on or are you just curious about it? Let Kathleen Doyle of Antiquestor Personal Property Appraisals evaluate your item and provide you with an “Appraisal Report” that will address your choice of:
-Replacement cost for insurance coverage
- Tax deduction for a non-cash charitable donation
-Fair market value report for equitable distribution or gifting

As part of the report, she will arrange to conduct an onsite inspection of the item, take photographs, review any relevant documentation, provide a market analysis, share any historical significance and of course, provide a monetary valuation of the object in an industry-standard written report. $750 value.
Quantity: 1
Starting Bid: $35

4. Children’s No Cooking/Cooking Class - Glenda Peck
Please join Glenda Peck in the Common Room for 3 sessions of no cooking-cooking classes for children. My recipes will include primarily measuring, cutting, mixing, and some use of the microwave. These will be simple food items geared for children. Each child will have an opportunity to sample our dish as well as bring some samples home to the family. We will also have a few simple crafts available if time permits. Grab your child, his or her friends and or cousins, and join the fun.
Sessions: Saturdays: January 18, January 25, and February 1, 2025, 11am – 12pm
Quantity: 10 children (ages 6 to 11 please)
Starting Bid: $30

5. A Day at the Lake!– Tracey and Kathy McFadden
Enjoy a beautiful summer day at the lake at the McFadden’s lake house. Start the day off with a lunch cruise and guided tour of Lake Beulah on a pontoon boat, followed by an afternoon spent on a variety of exciting water activities including kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, tubing, and jet ski rides. Round off the day will be a BBQ pull pork dinner. Lake Beulah is located 30 minutes north of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Date: TBD in the summer

Quantity: 6 people
Starting Bid: $100 per person

6. Learn to Knit - Nancy Christensen
Over the course of a few lessons, you’ll learn to knit and complete a small project, like a hat or scarf! You’ll learn some skills to be ready to tackle something more challenging. Yarn and needles are included.
Quantity: 2
Starting Bid: $30 per person

7. Asian Luncheon and Mahjong Tutorial - Manya Prahl
Join three of your friends for a gourmet Asian luncheon and afternoon of fun learning or brushing up on beginner mah jongg! Manya Prahl will prepare and serve lunch, and share her more than 15 years of skill to excite and encourage you to learn this amazing game! Official mah jongg game card ($15.00 value) included. To take place in Spring 2025.
Quantity: 4
Starting Bid: $50 per person

8. Take a Walk on the Wild Side: Wildflower Walk - Christine Imielski
Slow down and smell the wildflowers! Christine will guide a group of 6 on a walk through West DuPage Woods Forest Preserve in Winfield. Plant identification, ecology, and uses of common Illinois native wildflowers will be covered! To take place in April or May 2025. Date will be dependent on the weather and when the most native flowers are in bloom! Note: Trail is 1-mile loop on crushed limestone path.
Quantity: 6
Starting Bid: $20 per person

9. Campfire Sing-a-Long - Cynthia Spiegel & Tom Zimmerman
On Saturday, April 26th Cynthia and Tom will host a backyard campfire. There will be wine and beer, friends and fun and most importantly there will be music for all. If you attend, send one of your favorite sing-a-longs so they are ready to make it a harmonic reality. Cynthia loves John Denver, Tom, the Beatles, what’s your favorite?
Quantity: 20
Starting Bid: $25 per person

10. Cheesecake! - Glen Jerrard
Glen Jerrard will bake a cheesecake for your special occasion— you choose the flavor. Strawberry, raspberry, chocolate, pumpkin or whatever flavor you love. To be delivered at a mutually agreed upon date.
Quantity: 1
Starting Bid: $20

11. 2-Night Stay at The Lodge at Ventana Resort in Tucson, Arizona - Stu MacKay
Beautiful resort with two 18-hole golf courses. Gorgeous hikes just minutes away. Close to Sabino Canyon. Not far from a wide variety of top-notch restaurants. Booking window is May, June, or September.
Quantity: 1
Starting Bid: $150

12. Paramount Theatre Tickets to Cats - Kevin & Linda O’Neill
Enjoy two tickets to the musical Cats at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, at 1:30pm. The seats are in the first row and center, that is, Row A, Seats 109 and 110. The face value of the tickets is $39 each, or a total of $78. If this date and time doesn’t work for the auction winner, they can exchange them for another showing of Cats on a different date and time but it’s unlikely they will be able to get the same seats.
Quantity: 1 (includes two tickets)
Starting Bid: $60

13. Where You Should Cut the Cheese! - Dave Zacker
With a variety of wood to choose from, you will create a beautiful cutting board in Dave Zacker’s wood shop. Total project will take 2-3 afternoons; dates will be determined with the group.
Quantity: 2
Starting Bid: $40 per person

14. Stamp The Sermon - Rev. Scot Hull
Winner gets to direct the course of a Sunday morning! Select the topic OR the title of a sermon that Rev. Scot then has to work with. What do you want to see him wrestle with? Something traditional (theology, world religions, social justice, spirituality), something perplexing (mystical, philosophical, or otherwise dumbfounding), something cultural (pop, modern, dystopian), something literary (books, plays, poetry, theater, movies), or something more off-the-wall? Let’s see if Rev. Scot is up for the challenge! Some restrictions apply. Sermon will be delivered in 2025.
Quantity: 1
Starting Bid: $125

15. An Evening Under The Stars with a NASA Scientist - John Robbins
UUSG’s John Robbins will bring his telescope to your backyard (or his backyard, or to a nice publicly accessible dark location) for an evening of observing & learning about the wonders of the sky. We'll look at a multitude of celestial sights, including: the Moon, whatever planets are visible (Saturn, this fall), double stars, star clusters and galaxies. Great learning fun for families, and/or small gatherings. Takes place at a mutually agreeable location, date & time (obviously, it must be in good weather!).
Time: from dusk until 10:30pm (or until yawns begin)
Date: Two separate dates to be arranged with group winners and John
Quantity: 2 (The two highest bidders will win the item for their small group to attend, separate evenings)
Starting Bid: $50 per small group

16. Soapmaking Workshop - Sherry Wilson & Laz Escalona
Have you ever wondered how soap is made? Sherry Wilson and Laz Escalona will host a workshop on soapmaking. They’ll talk about the probable origins of soap, the different types of soap, and take you through the process of saponification (the chemical process that creates soap). Lunch is included and you’ll take home some hand-made soap.
    - Saturday, March 15, 11am
    - Saturday, May 3, 11am
Quantity: 5 people max per date
Starting Bid: $40 per person

17. Horoscope Reading - Linda Dorr
Your date, time, and place of birth will be needed. Despite the 1960s vibe, this won't be a fortune-telling session! A birth chart is a reflection of your personality and your inner self. While astrology, in our hyper-rational culture, tends to be looked down upon, it is in fact the oldest science. Linda has been a student of astrology for several decades. She doesn’t often do readings these days, but she’s always gotten good feedback when she does one. Anything she tells you in the reading will be based on several hours of drawing a chart by hand (then verifying it with software) and studying various astrology books, plus her own experience. Reading will be offered in Spring 2025.
Quantity: 1
Starting Bid: $40

18. An Afternoon of Cookie Baking - Hilary Campbell
Would you like to contribute to the USSG cookie walk? Maybe you don’t enjoy baking alone or don’t have the facilities. Come join me in my kitchen to bake as much as we can in the afternoon. Whatever we don’t eat, I will store in my freezer and then donate to the cookie walk.
Quantity: Up to 5 participants, children welcome
Starting Bid: $20 per participant

19. Fromages de France - Lynn and Llona Steele
We will travel to several regions of France, each known for a particular brand of cheese.  We will discuss cheeses made from cow, sheep and goat milk and the terrain and process which made each cheese famous. As we taste each cheese described we will pair the cheese with fruit, wine or cider or a non-alcoholic beverage, depending on the area. And we’ll end with “un dessert délicieux”! Bon appétit!
- Saturday February 1, 2025, 6:30 - 8:30pm (ish)
- Saturday February 22, 2025, 6:30 - 8:30pm (ish)
Quantity: 8 people per date
Starting Bid: $40 per person

20. Live Music from the Treehouse Stage - The Montgomery Family
Join your UUSG friends for an evening of live music in the Montgomery enchanted backyard woods. This was our most popular event from our last auction and one we are sure you won’t want to miss. Saturday, June 14, 2025.
Quantity: 50
Set Price: $35 per person

21. Cookie of the Month Club - Carol Myers
What is better than homemade cookies delivered right to your door? Having them delivered every month for a year, of course! You’ll enjoy 2 dozen cookies each and every month. Generally, Carol’s choice but she will honor requests. Delivered! Guaranteed delicious!
Quantity: 1
Starting Bid: $60

22. Lyric Opera’s “The Marriage of Figaro” - Lyric Opera of Chicago
Experience an evening of thrilling voices, timeless storytelling, and grand-scale theatrical spectacle at one of the world’s greatest opera companies! Coordinated by John Rosenkrans, the Lyric is donating two tickets to “The Marriage of Figaro” on November 9, 13, 17, 19, 21, 24, 27, or 30, 2024.
Quantity: 1 (includes two tickets)
Starting Bid: $150

23. Vox Pacem: Custom 30-Minute Vocal Recording - Steve Clark
Have you ever found yourself nodding off during a service because you found yourself lulled into a sense of peaceful serenity by the dulcet tones of the speaker? Do you want to have that at your disposal 24/7? Maybe you're not a big reader but you want someone to read your favorite passage to you, or perhaps a selection of bedtime stories for your children or grandchildren? Guided meditations, famous speeches, the possibilities are endless! Steve Clark is offering to record up to 30 minutes (5,000 words) of anything you want to the best of his ability.
Quantity: 1
Starting Bid: $50

24. Fermi Lab Prairie Walk - Glenda Peck
Please join Glenda Peck for a morning walk through the restored Fermi Lab prairie on July 12, 2025 at 9-11am. We will meet at the Lederman Science Center on the Fermi Lab property and walk the interpretive trail together. You will learn a bit about the history of Illinois, Fermi Lab’s beautiful prairie, and the amazing plants that grow on the lands. Time permitting, we will also visit the bison at their grazing fields. Please note, in order to enter the property, you must have an IL Real ID or your passport.
Quantity: 12 individuals (children 6 and up are welcomed with an adult)
Starting Bid: $20

25. Family Fun Movie Night - Lily Geer
Enjoy a night out at your own private movie theater--the UUSG Sanctuary! Scheduled to take place in February 2025, we will watch a family-friendly movie and have all the classic snacks and treats. Bring blankets, pillows, stuffies, get cozy, and share a memorable night with your UUSG Community!
Quantity: ~25 people
Set Price: $20 per family

26. Books and Beverages - Sue Gately
Join Sue for a Sunday afternoon of Books and Beverages! 10 guests will share a bit about their favorite read or reads in 2024 and leave with a new list of books to start their reading in 2025. This is a great opportunity to discover new and interesting books plus new and interesting friends! Books and Beverages will be on Sunday, February 23, from 2-4pm.
Quantity: 10
Starting Bid: $20

27. From Chaos to Clarity: Transform Your Inbox with Christine Imielski
Is your inbox overflowing with promos and junk emails, leaving you overwhelmed and unable to find what you need? Or perhaps you have an old email address from a bygone era and want to transition to Gmail but don’t know where to start? You're in luck! Christine is here to help you regain control of your email. This auction item includes a pre-consultation and up to 3 hours of personalized support to get your inbox organized and manageable again. 
Quantity: 1
Starting Bid: $35

28. Learn to Camp - Teal Cyko & Ashley Peterson
Always dreamed of going camping, but don’t know how to start? Learn the basics of camping with Teal and former Scout/Philmont veteran Ashley on a low-key weekend camping trip to a local destination. Bring your appetite for smores and hearty camp food. All supplies provided, Teal & Ash have an extra tent for the winners, but please feel free to bring your own if you have one! Exact date and location agreed upon by participants.
Quantity: 2
Starting Bid: $25 per person

29. “2nd Best Behind the Coe’s” Garden Party - Molly MacKay Zacker & Dave Zacker

We hope you will join us for an evening in our garden with appetizers, signature cocktails, wine and good cheer on a date during summer 2025 TBD!

Quantity: 30 people
Starting Bid: $35 per person