Dozens of people scurried about the cafeteria of Family Central as phones rang constantly in the background.

Tables covered with a variety of goods lined the middle of the room, and volunteers constantly updated bids on several black boards displaying the auction items.

For Jan Caddell of WKSK 580 AM, it was a typical Ashe County Heart Fund Auction, an event held for more than 40 years to raise money for the American Heart Association. Since coming to WKSK in 1968, Caddell and his crew have broadcast the event every year.

"We started off in the station years ago and we found that we didn't have the room as it started growing," he said. "So we moved to another location, and it works well where we are now at Family Central."

He noted that he was originally drawn to the event because "most everybody you know has some family member or friend who has had a heart condition or surgery. It's meaningful to work with a program that provides funds to help explore new methods of treating heart conditions."

Although anyone present could see the item, Caddell faced the challenge of accurately describing the items over the airwaves - a task he compared to "painting a picture from another room.

"Were it video, it'd be a lot easier to demonstrate what you're selling," he continued. "But people, even without seeing it, they know the merchant and the type of business it is, the type of goods they sell." Once the item is described, interested people could call in and place a bid on phone lines ran by employees from AF Bank.

The auction had a little something for everyone, be it paintings, tools, lamps or quilts, just to name a few items. Caddell said that unlike previous years they didn't have any large items, such as a car, but feels that the 2009 auction was still a success.

"We questioned how good we would do because of people talking about the economy," he said. "We try not to participate in the recession, but obviously it gets you a little bit."

Sandy Shatley, president of the Ashe County Chapter of AMA, said that they sold around 500 items at the auction to raise approximately $15,400. Of that total, $494 was raised by the event's bake sale while a quilt donated by the Piecemaker's Quilt Guild brought in $1,870.

For Shatley, running the event is a labor of love.

"I enjoy helping people, and that's what this is all about," she said. "It's us giving back to what the heart association has given to all of us. There's not many people in Ashe County that have not been affected in one way or another." She noted that her father "had open heart surgery twice, and I got to keep him 15 years longer than what I would have."

Still, the auction can be every bit as hectic as it looks.

"It's very stressful," said Shatley. "In fact, the whole month before the auction is a very stressful time. We all work very hard to get this event put together, and people don't realize, unless they're up here doing it, what chaos it is." Shatley later thanked "the county and all the volunteers," but noted that they need younger volunteers to keep the auction going strong in the future.

While the total raised was slightly down from last year, Caddell said that the turnout was good "considering the economy."

The Ashe County Chapter of the American Heart Association will hold their next event, the 2009 Ashe County Heart Walk, in Jefferson on Saturday, May 23. To find out more about the Ashe Chapter of AMA or the Heart Walk, contact Shatley at (336) 846-7444.