(Photo by Kris Todd) Kindergarten students and teacher Noreen Bohl display a few of the items up for grabs during this Sunday's benefit auction for Iowa Great Lakes Lutheran School in Spencer. [Order this photo]

The 10th anniversary of Iowa Great Lakes Lutheran School opening its doors to students will be celebrated with a lunch and benefit auction this Sunday.

Afternoon activities at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 500 Fourth Ave. S.W., will begin at noon with a pork burger lunch and root beer floats being served for free-will donations. IGLLS students will then present a musical program at 12:45 p.m. in the Spencer church's narthex.

The day's live and silent auctions, which will begin at 1 p.m., will feature hundreds of items designed for men, women and children alike. Items placed on silent auction tables will be awarded to the highest bidders intermittently throughout the afternoon's live auction.

(Photo submitted) Glass artist Jesse Bogenrief, left, hands Iowa Great Lakes Lutheran School administrator Dewey Torkelson a blue vase, which will be among the hundreds of items to be auctioned off Sunday afternoon during the Spencer school's 10th annual benefit auction. [Order this photo]

Money raised during this weekend's live and silent auctions will benefit the school's 43 kindergarten through sixth grade students, as well as staff at IGLLS. While nearly 50 percent of the school's revenues come from tuition, the remaining 50 percent are tallied from donations, whether from individuals or through fund-raisers such as this.

Thrivent Clay County Chapter No. 31133 has pledged $1,600 in matching funds this year.

Bidders, meanwhile, will have plenty to select from on Sunday. An assortment of theme baskets will be up for grabs, as will numerous collectible items, a plethora of family entertainment packages and loads of homemade articles.

Several bags of Northrup King seed corn and soybeans, tickets to Disney Live! Winnie the Pooh and Third Day shows, savings bonds, theater passes, remote car starters, a 2009 family pass to the Spencer Family Aquatic Center, restaurant gift certificates, two 18-hole golf passes, a "Just for You" Willow Tree figurine, a rechargeable work light, document shredders, an Ertl 4020 tractor, and a family photograph sitting will be featured during the live auction. 2008 IGLLS graduate Tanner Morris has also offered to donate a large stuffed animal he won at this year's Clay County Fair.

Handmade items such as quilts and blankets, a beaded necklace with matching earrings, red raspberry jam, embroidered pillowcases and T-towels, tied lap robes and baby blankets will also be placed on the auction block Sunday.

A cobalt blue hand-blown Bogenrief vase, a three-night stay for four at Lakewood Lodge in Deer River, Minn., an overnight stay at AmericInn Motel and Suites of Spencer, and a baker's dozen package featuring a dessert-per-month made by Kay Wilson of Spencer are also expected to draw a large crowd of stealthy bidders.

The wide array of theme baskets available during this year's benefit auction, meanwhile, will also appeal to people of all demographics. Tastes piqued will range from those of couples, chocolate and apple enthusiasts, St. Louis Cardinals admirers and fall revelers, among others.

In addititon to theme baskets celebrating Camp Okoboji and breast cancer awareness, each of the IGLLS teachers and their classes have crafted a special theme basket this year. Kindergarten students have fashioned a "I Just Want to be a Sheep" basket. First and second graders have formulated a "Faith, Family and Friends" basket. Third and fourth grade students have designed a "Snuggle Up With Jesus" theme basket and IGLLS fifth and sixth graders have created a "Run the Good Race" basket.

Gift certificates from several area merchants will also be highlighted during Sunday afternoon's auction.

Todd Hattermann, who has volunteered his services as an auctioneer each year, has agreed to do so again this Sunday.