A testament to community...

I am a firm believe in Community! To me the concept of community has a lot to offer the world. It is something that can happen very easily and it is something that can fall apart just as easy. I am in the very beginning stages of studding this idea and how it works.
I believe I experienced true community last weekend. Below you will find a story I wrote in response to a truly God lead experience. I was bless because I was able to experience this.

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Bidders poured out their hearts and their pocketbooks Saturday afternoon in honor of the memory of Kile (Andy) Hayden, who died in a car crash in July. Hayden’s hog fetched $34,000, which is reportedly $3,000 more than the previous state record for a county auction.

“This is something even the toughest of cowboys hate to talk about. You all are very aware of what happened to Andy Hayden. I cannot start to tell you what their family has been through. In a perfect world a guy like me would never have to talk about stuff like this,” said auctioneer Dean Brown to those in attendance. “We can show them that they are not alone in their hurt and their grief. Today, we can prove to them and to the rest of the world that we are going to try to take care of them.”

Throughout the day, 4-H’ers donated portions of their auction money to the Andy Hayden 4-H fund, collecting $2,770, which was added to the total.

The opening bid of $10,000 shattered the previous Scioto County Fair record of $7,800.

As the bids came in the crowd rose to their feet, and many had tears in their eyes.

Area business owners, who had not planned to bid on the animal, came forward near the end of the bidding and decided to give some more.

“I’ve sold from one end of this country to the other. This is the highlight of 25 years of doing auctioneering for me,” Brown said.

Typically, when a champion animal is sold at the livestock sale a photo is taken with the owner of the animal and the buyers. In this case, those who were able posed for the photo with the hog. It was a community that bought the animal, and it was that community that paid tribute to a young man who was taken before his time.