By Bonnie Culverhouse

For the third consecutive year, Minden will be sending more than $2 million to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital on behalf of the children treated there.

As the auction came to a close Sunday, the total collected from the four-day long event was $2,320,036.

“Everybody thinks you have a goal to beat the year before,” said co-chair Laura Hollingsworth, “but our goal is to never do another auction again because St. Jude has done its job and the doors are closed. There’s no more cancer … there are no more sick children.”

Melissa Brown agreed.

“We just appreciate everything the community does for us every year … and the community has really grown and encompassed other areas of the country, as well as the world,” she said.

To prove that point, Mark Brown, a resident of Missouri won the grand prize for 2025.

It wasn’t really a 50th anniversary … it wasn’t really 50 years they were celebrating. It was 50 auctions for the children of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. But why split hairs? The most important thing in the end was the final total from bids, raffles, racers and chili cooks from all over the world showing their support for the families of St. Jude. Watch Webster Parish Journal for more on the Chili Cook-off.