With paddles raised high, bidders competed for deals on hand crafted furniture, a Patriots jersey signed by former linebacker Willie McGinest, a live gecko and much more.

The 45th annual Wareham DECA auction held on Sunday, March 23, featured live, silent and rollie auctions. The money raised benefits Wareham DECA, the high school's chapter of the international  organization dedicated to teaching kids about business, marketing, finance and more as well as giving them skills to become future entrepreneurs.

Local businesses and community members donated more than 100 auction items. Club President Charlotte Roy was pleased with how things went.

"I think we made a good amount of money, and I was happy seeing everyone bidding on items," she said. "We have a lot of events, but this one is always a bit more fun."

The live auction was led by Wareham High School Class of 1968 alum Phillip "The Colonel" Gomes for the eighth consecutive year. Gomes got the crowd involved in not only the buying, but the selling too. 

Wareham High Class of 2023 and five-year DECA alum Indiana Troupe just so happened to be in the crowd. Gomes called him up to the front of the gathering for recognition.

"I had helped [Gomes] out a few years ago as his assistant auctioneer, and he taught me how to do everything," Troupe said. "It was fun having him call me up."

School Resource Officer Carl Baptiste was in the crowd to support the club. "This is my fourth or fifth year coming, and it was great," he said.

Roy said there was a lot of work done to prepare for the auction.

"We start thinking about this at the beginning of the year," she said. "We have a project management class where we learn how to put events like this on, and we spend a lot of time reaching out to local businesses to get donations."

Roy said DECA still needs to count up exactly how much money the auction raised, but was confident it was "a lot."