Retro furniture, ‘Celebrity Bikes’ up for sale at Van Go fundraiser

Colorful patio umbrellas, retro butterfly chairs and a wagon made to look like a pirate ship are among the items up for auction at Van Go, Inc.’s annual What Floats Your Boat fundraiser, slated for June 20 at Clinton Lake Marina.

If you go

What: Van Go, Inc.’s “What Floats Your Boat” fundraiser

Where: Clinton Lake Marina, 1329 East 800 Road

When: 6 p.m. Saturday, June 20

Cost: Tickets cost $95 each, or $680 for a table of 8. They can be purchased online or by calling 842-3797. Tickets need to be reserved by Monday, June 15.

The event, now in its 12th cycle, is Van Go’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Proceeds from What Floats Your Boat go toward paying the nonprofit’s at-risk young artists (who create many of the pieces featured in the auction) while providing job training and social services, says Van Go marketing director Eliza Nichols.

“It’s 12 percent of our budget, which is a big deal,” Nichols says. “We’re really dependent on the community to come out and support Van Go, and we’re really appreciative of those who keeping coming back every year.”

The nonprofit aims to raise $100,000 at this year’s fundraiser, which Nichols says should draw around 600 people to Clinton Lake. Tickets — $95 individually, or $680 for a table of eight — include a barbecue dinner from McGonigle’s and “lighter fare” from Ingredient, drinks, a one-day pass to the marina and live music by the Lawrence-based, nationally known musician Kelley Hunt.

Recycling last year’s theme of “Van Go Retro,” the nonprofit’s artists (who range in age from 14 to 21) designed and renovated vintage furniture for the auction using a “retro color palette” of shades like aqua, cranberry and avocado green — basically, “the refrigerators of our childhoods,” Nichols says.

Local artists got in on the action this year, too. Roger Shimomura, Stan Herd and Eliza Bullock each painted a vintage bicycle (dubbed “Celebrity Bikes” by event organizers) that are also up for auction. Van Go’s young apprentices collaborated on with a trellis with blacksmith Kate Dineen, which is also available for purchase.

Aside from art, several trips are being auctioned off, the “biggest” of which being a vacation to the Oregon coast, Nichols says.

Tickets for What Floats Your Boat, which need to be reserved by Monday, June 15, are available for purchase at Van Go’s website or by calling 842-3797.