As someone who regularly struggles to get the correct words out of my mouth and the correct time, auctioneers have always fascinated me.

Sitting in The Carriage House Restaurant Thursday, the words rolling off the tongue of local auctioneer Barry Maxwell were entrancing.

“Who’ll give me fifty dollars? Fifty, fifty, can I get fifty dollars. We’re way under the money on this one. Somebody’s going to get a deal. Let’s get it going now.”

All of the words above, which I’m paraphrasing since Barry talks fast and I write slowly, seemed to fly out in one spray in approximately six seconds.

Maxwell was serving as auctioneer for the annual Natchez Trace Kiwanis Club’s Christmas Auction.

Club members and local businesses donate the items to be auctioned. Proceeds help fund the club’s projects. Kiwanis is a civic organization that aims to help children’s causes.

If you know Maxwell, you know he’s a regular stand-up comedian, too. As would-be bidders mull over their decisions, they’re easy targets for Maxwell’s good-intentioned ribbing.

Tears of laughter were streaming down several sets of checks Thursday as his humor kept the momentum of the auction going along with lots of laughs.

Based on the winning bids, I’d guess the auction raised a few thousand dollars.

Another local civic club, the Rotary Club of Natchez will have its Christmas auction at lunch this Wednesday, also at The Carriage House.

Rotary’s auction, like the Kiwanis one, aims at raising money for their charitable causes in a fun, productive way.

The work of our local civic clubs is often under appreciated.

Kiwanis, for example, does an excellent job with mentoring young leaders through sponsoring Key Clubs at several local high schools. Each week the adult club invites in a few of the youth clubs’ representatives to their lunch meetings. It’s amazing to see some of our area’s best and brightest youth learning from some of our best and brightest adult leaders.

That’s what builds great communities — young and old alike sharing meals and ideas with one another.

Rotary Club also does great work in our community and beyond.

From scholarships given to students from area schools to thousands and thousands of dollars in donations to area charitable causes from the Natchez Stewpot to the Natchez Children’s Home, the club’s impact is great.

From an international perspective, Rotary International has taken on the project of eradicating polio from the world, a gargantuan task that is nearly complete.

These two clubs are just a couple of the several civic clubs that exist in our community.

Each of them is always looking for new club members who are eager and willing to help.

Club membership is fun and rewarding on many levels.

If anyone has interest in who to contact to learn more about membership, drop me a line and I’ll be happy to connect you with the correct person at each club.

Living in a community is a little like the process of the charity auction. You can stand on the sidelines and watch or you can throw your hand into the air and get involved in the helping process.

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.