I tried to buy a wolf on Saturday night.
It was one of the coolest things on sale at the auction. The Daycare Auction is one of the biggest events of the year in Cambridge Bay. It's one of the few nights where the men bust out their collared dress shirts and ties, girls hobble in on the high heels (after changing out of their snow mukluks), and I carry my fancy Coach handbag instead of the usual man-purse that I stole from my dad.
fancy men in fancy dress
dapper dudes in dapper ties
The evening features dinner, dancing, and of course auctions for various crafts and items on sale, all as part of a fundraiser for the local daycare.
This year's theme was James Bond, and the organizers did a great job of decorating the community hall for the event. My favourite decoration was the posters of the daycare kids on the wall. They kind of looked like mugshots, but the kids were just too cute.
There were a lot of great items for sale at the auction. Items were donated by local businesses, artists, craftsmen, and carvers.
carving and framed picture
Breathtaking painting by local painter Miguel Chenier
"Don't you dare outbid me!"
One of the things we wanted to buy the most was the polar bear parka. Yes, the warmest looking parka that you've ever seen, made out of polar bear fur. I don't know why we didn't end up going home with it. It ended up selling for around $700, which is actually a good deal for polar bear fur.
Roar.
Of course, the item that everybody coveted the most was the wolf.
The taxidermist had done an excellent job with this Arctic wolf. Doesn't it look like it's about to jump up at you? I wanted to buy it so bad. Unfortunately, so did everyone else in the room. It was one of the most intense parts of the auction that night. People bid all the way up until it was sold for over $2400.
I hope the guy who ended up buying it is now dancing around his living room wearing the wolf on his head like a cape, as was my original plan.
Roar.
So, I didn't end up buying a wolf. We didn't end up buying anything, because the bids on all the items went up quite high, fortunately for the daycare. But we had our fill of yummy dinner, catered by the culinary arts students at the local Nunavut Arctic College, and then we danced our hearts out. Which is all I can ask for in a night out. Well, a wolf would have been nice too.
