The first round of old Emporia High championship banners auctioned on eBay didn’t exactly spark a bidding bonanza.
Bidding for the first 14 banners closed Saturday with only two banners sold, both for the minimum $25 bid.
Marcella Price, accounts payable clerk at Mary Herbert Elementary School, was in charge of placing the banners on eBay. Price said the winning bidders for both banners were Emporia High graduates. One sold banner honors the 1996-97 Centennial League champions in girls basketball, volleyball, wrestling and girls tennis. The second one commemorates the 1997-98 league championships in football, boys basketball and wrestling.
EHS put up some new sign banners honoring Spartan league and State champions about a year and a half ago. The school then decided to auction off 50 old championship banners, which were broken into four groups. The banner auctions are being advertised at the Spartans’ four home football games, and the day after each game, another group of banners goes on sale for about a week.
Emporia athletic director Britton Hart said he was surprised there wasn’t more interest in bidding for the first round of banners. But he thought two reasons might be the fact that the auctions are a new event and the first 14 banners combined multiple league championships onto one banner.
“If you want a cross country banner, you don’t want wrestling and track on there, too,” Hart said.
The second of the four groups of banners will be up for auction beginning Saturday, following Emporia’s Friday home game against Washburn Rural. Some banners in that group commemorate just one champion per banner, rather than multiple, and the last two groups of banners all honor just one champion. The final group consists of six State championship banners. Hart hopes demand for the single-sport banners will be higher.
“I’m optimistic, and if not, heck, it’s not a big deal,” Hart said. “We want to provide ’em to our patrons, and it’s kind of a neat thing.”
During the auction periods, the banners may be found at www.ebay.com with a search for “Emporia High banner.”
Hart said the banners that don’t sell on eBay would probably be offered later in a silent auction during basketball season.
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