by Kate Willoughby Hall, CEO of Richmondmom.com and adorer of hunky men whom I get to sell for charity.
When my friend Susan Groves asked me to host her Pink Tie bachelor auction leading up to her huge annual event, the Pink Tie Gala for Komen Richmond, I was a bit taken aback. I mean, really, who wants a mom-of-three selling a bunch of young, cute single guys?
I’m pretty sure she had exhausted all of her other resources of really famous Richmonders to do this and just looked around and figured I’ll pretty much do anything (within reason) for charity, so she asked me. Anyway, I was thrilled, and a bit nervous I’ll admit.
I mean, these guys were HUNKS. In suits. And they were PUMPED UP for this night. The crowd started rolling (cougars and beautiful young girls alike) into Centerstage around 7:30. Cocktails flowing, music pumping, “the boys” were loosening up, and I was getting more and more tense. This was a year of Susan’s work–she is an amazing person whom I adore–and we had to bring in some big charitable bucks for these guys. THEY were experiencing sweaty palms, too, and trying not to show it. How humiliating would it be to get up in front of a room of a few hundred people and not get any bids? (I surmise that this is why there are not more bachelorette auctions; most of us women would simply be scaredy-cats and couldn’t put ourselves out there.)
The routine was down, the bios were ready, and the DJ started up “It’s Raining Men” and Hallelujah! I could quit worrying and get this show on the road. Mic in hand, I welcomed everyone and started selling. The first bachelor, Stephen Bowman, was (much to my relief) a natural. 
He strutted his stuff out onto the stage, taking off his suit coat to “show the goods” and generally playing it up like a rockstar. This was going to go just swimmingly. Having a few local celebs didn’t hurt either, as we continued the selling of these bachelors, with thanks to our experienced auctioneer Linda Staples (she rocked). The darling Paul Milliken of WRIC-Channel 8 brought in a good buck–his dimples were worth $300 at least.
The super-fit and fabulous Richie Denzler of RIR wowed the crowd with several one-armed push-ups and the ladies went wild. 
When the (ridiculously young looking Josh Landon (also of WRIC-Channel 8) as in enough to be my, um, little brother) literally started shaking his money-maker, let’s just say that there was no shortage of dollar bills tossed on the stage. 
The adorable boy-wonder Trevor Dickerson, owner of DowntownShortPump.com and RVA Media Works (at the tender age of 22) 
Local rocker Derek Hurst, a Jon Bon Jovi lookalike, bared his tattooed arms, feathered hair flowing in the breeze. In addition to two tickets to the Pink Tie Gala, the guys also came with a package gift deal for the ladies, and Derek’s was a signed CD and “rocker package.” Easy sell to a bunch of eighties ladies in that crowd. 
Even Nutzy the Squirrel of the Flying Squirrels was there, and although he’s a quiet guy, he’s packed with some un-squirrel like hunky muscles and had some dance grooves to shame any human. 
. With over 3,000 Facebook fans, he’s quite the squirrel-about-town.
The fabulous Richmond Revolution player and fitness-buff Rich Rogers, who had been sitting quietly until the auction began, suddenly sprang into action with some dance moves that would, let’s just say, make the heart skip a beat. 
No one was prepared, however for bachelor Chad Brown, owner of Plus1Tickets.com to not only offer his winning bidder tickets to any event (yes, Superbowl included), or to see him undress down to his skivvies enticing the ladies to bid him up. 
As a last-minute addition, the ladies in the audience requested that our DJ sell himself, too, and after attempting to dance sultrily on stage with me he brought in a nice chunk of change at $250. Over $5,000 was raised, and the boys deserve a big-shout-out for all they gave up last night.
I could go on and on, but you should really check out the Pink Tie Bachelor Auction hotties out for yourself. Who knows? Their dates may not work out, and they’ll all be at the Pink Tie Gala with us in October at the Marriott. We hope you’ll join us. Perhaps there’ll be no love connections but you’ll get a warm fuzzy feeling about giving to Komen Richmond and mingling with some seriously fun guys who made this auction a night in Richmond infamy.
Big thanks to Rigby’s Jig and River City Charities for putting all this great stuff on to do good in Richmond.
