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The Boys & Girls Club of Morristown was in its final moments on a sweltering afternoon Saturday.

Auctioneer Ritchie Broyles had worked his way through all of the donated items inside the club and then through the larger donated items outside.

Furniture, sports memorabilia, vacation packages, lots of land, a small sailboat, a larger fishing boat had all been sold under the watchful eyes of Broyles and his team.

The antique truck and tractor both went and then Broyles went to work on the cars and trucks until finally there was only one left. A used white Toyota that the auctioneer energetically praised.

“These things run forever,” he said

Then the bidding started.

Well, the bidding didn’t start so much as Broyles started throwing out optimistic prices.

Seven thousand quickly dropped to five, then three and all the way down to $1,000 before the real game began.

The price started working its way back up in $100 increments until one of the two competing bidders walked away at $1,700. But the game wasn’t over. Another bidder stepped up and pushed the price to $2,000.

The bidder – who for a brief moment thought he had won at $1,700 – offered a half-hearted $2,050 at the urging of Boys & Girls Club board member Noel Montepeque but the price went up again and suddenly the annual auction had ended.

After Broyles announced a handful of donation as, club Executive Director John Seals stepped to the microphone. Seals – whose week started with the birth of a grandchild – cautioned the tally wasn’t official but it appeared the annual Super Auction – the club’s biggest annual fundraiser – was a record setter.

“It’s a great big community effort,” Seals said. “Wow. This is the biggest one we ever had. It’s going to end up over $180,000. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate you.”