Beechwood raised $75,000 last night in honor of Will Conway

Beechwood Restaurant and Lounge raised $75,000 last night at their annual Will Conway fundraiser.

Beechwood Restaurant and Lounge hosts an annual fundraiser in honor of Will Conway. The money is then distributed to Jacob’s Ladder, Rainbow Farms and the Caroline McCollum Simrall Hood Memorial Scholarship.

George Wilson “Will” Conway 1988-2020

The event started at 5:30 p.m. as a band of locally known musicians including John Howard Dennis, Ted Holman, Kimble Slaton and Lee H. Abraham played crowd favorites, “We played whatever they shouted out!” said Ted Holman. The lounge area was full by 6:30 and by 7:30 when the auction began it was standing room only.

Raffle tickets with a $1000 grand prize winner were sold for $5 and they sold every ticket available. One of the first items of the night set the tone for the evening. A Christmas-themed throw pillow made by a student at Jacob’s Ladder came up for bid, “We have a very special item,” said host Will Hood. Bidding took off and the item was eventually won by Billy Crozier.

Billy Crozier had the winning bid for this priceless item made by this talented Jacob’s Ladder student. Photo by David Day

The big winner was Jacob’s Ladder, Rainbow Farms and the Caroline McCollum Simrall Hood Memorial Scholarship.

In a post on social media Beechwood said, “We can’t thank everyone enough. The True meaning of Christmas was exemplified tonight! Thank you everyone!!!!”