Chamber’s ‘Road to Rio’ benefits KARM

About 200 Chamber members turned out for “Road to Rio,” this year’s theme for the annual Farragut West Knox Chamber of Commerce Auction.

The event, which part of the proceeds benefited Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries, featured a silent and live auction and dinner at Rothchild Catering and Conference Center in Knoxville on Friday, April 22.

Julie Blaylock, Chamber executive assistant, said while her staff is still going through receipts, the Chamber presented KARM with $2,000 out of the event’s proceeds.

“Oh, it’s great,” Blake Rust, Chamber board member, said. “It’s an exciting event. There’s usually a good turnout.”

“It’s fun,” Paige Davis, attendee, said. “It’s absolutely fantastic. We missed last year, but we’ve been several times before.

“It’s a great networking event, and Rothchild is a perfect place to hold this. It’s a great fundraiser.”

“It’s going great,” Bettye Sisco, Chamber president and CEO, said. “Everyone is having a great time. So many have come back again and again, and the changing of the themes makes it interesting.

“We’re so grateful for the sponsors and those who attended tonight. Three hundred businesses are represented through their items in the silent auction and being here. I had one person say this is the one auction he wouldn’t miss.”

To commemorate the 2016 Summer Olympics, the auction’s theme, “Road to Rio,” focused on the journey to the Olympics and Paralympics, Sisco said.