ROBINSON — Proceeds from a Mardi Gras silent auction held by St. Elizabeth Parish, Robinson, and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Oblong, were given to the First United Methodist Church in Robinson, which was severely damaged in a fire on Christmas night. A check for $9,160 was presented to the Rev. Tiffany Black, pastor of First United Methodist, during a fellowship dinner for members of the three churches on Feb. 20.

Pastor Black accepted the check and thanked everyone for their generosity, telling them her congregation was touched by the outpouring of support — both financially and spiritually — from the Catholic community.

The blaze that gutted the 112-year-old church was well under way before fire fighters were alerted. Strong winds gusting from the north caused considerable damage, but fire departments from Oblong, LaMotte, Hutsonville, Flat Rock, Prairie-Licking and West Union, as well as a hose truck from the Marathon refinery, were able to prevent the fire from spreading to the newer education wing on the church's west side.

The silent auction normally raises funds for the pastoral council, but with tragedy striking so close to home — the Methodist church is located just down the street from St. Elizabeth — the parish council decided with the approval of Father Aloysius Ndeanaefo, their pastor, to donate the silent auction proceeds to the Methodist Church.

"We are such a small town, we all know someone who goes to United Methodist," said Patti Buercklin, St. Elizabeth's secretary. "Some of us have good friends who go there."

This year's Mardi Gras auction drew a good crowd, "the best attended," Sean Sexton, president of the pastoral council, told the Robinson Daily News. Later at the fellowship dinner for the three churches on Feb. 20, which was also well attended, Buercklin described the gathering as "a wonderful evening. We are blessed to be able to help them."