School Auction Features Big Bargains, Sentimental Value

Many came looking for bargains like librarian Vivian McCracken of Mount Carmel. "One of these units can be over $1,500. We got one unit for $55." She was talking about the bookshelves she bought for Mount Carmel Public Library. "I am so grateful to have been able to get these and know that they're not going for scrap metal.. They're actually going to be used in the library. They're very badly needed," said Ms. McCracken.

Bidder Alyssa Cipriano of Hazleton finished her junior year at Bishop Hafey High School in 2007 before it became Holy Family Academy during a diocesan school consolidation. "It's sad that everything's just being auctioned off to sell," she said. Ms. Cipriano bought something that means a lot to her -- a locker from her junior year. "And it's really cool because when my cousin came here for Holy Family she ended up with my locker, too, so it has that sentimental value."

Former Bishop Hafey student Jared Stock of Hazleton had his eye on a locker and also noticed some of the emotion this school that stood since 1971 still held. "You walk through some of the classrooms and you see former students wrote on the chalkboards," he said. Mr. Stock left a little heartbroken knowing his alma mater is a thing of the past. "It's just sad to see them gutting it apart. I wish they could have kept it somehow but I guess good things come to an end."