Imagine shopping for the perfect knickknack for your home, then giving it away. Imagine donating an item for a charity auction, then bidding on it in hopes of getting it back. That's the dilemma that faced many Ballard residents when the Ballard Rotary Club held its annual auction April 29.

Jewelry, wine, salmon, hosted dinner parties, sports memorabilia, use of the Mariners' owners suite for a game, cooking classes, condo and motel rooms -- and that's just for starters.

Air fair to Europe, golf packages, clothing, 175 gallons of marine diesel fuel, show tickets, artwork and local stocks were just a few of the items available to bidders.

"We start planning early in the year," said Frederick Richard, Ballard Rotary Club's president-elect. "We announce early in February, after the holidays."

Richard said club members and their families and friends make many of the donations. Local businesses and individuals donate the rest. He said the same people primarily attend the auction and bid on items.

"There's a lot of overlapping people between here and the Senior Center," said Earle Leonard, Ballard Northwest Senior Center board president. "Some of our friends from the Food Bank will be here too. Ballard's small; we do what we can."

The evening began with a silent auction.

Gordon "Oly" Wise, 72, said he was "keeping a good eye on a gold coin." He also said he was bidding on a sculpture by local artist Mike Peck.

Alan Hovland said he also was bidding on the sculpture.

"This is a wonderful piece of artwork," he said. "You have to step back 4 to 5 feet to see what it is."

Brett Clifton said one of the reasons he attended the auction was to bid on a chance to be Ballard High School's principal for a day.

Ballard High's actual principal, Phil Brockman, and his wife were at the auction. He said he wasn't bidding on items personally, but his wife was "trolling."

"We're one of the biggest sponsors of scholarships for Ballard," Hovland said. "It's a great relationship between Rotary and the school."

Ballard Rotary has donated $24,000 in scholarships to the high school's seniors over the past two years, but the school hasn't been the only beneficiary of the club's generosity.

Over that time the club has donated $10,000 in support of the Ballard branch of the Seattle Public Library, $10,000 to Rotary First Harvest to provide food for the needy, and $6,500 to Washington Women in Need, a nonprofit organization which offers low-income women non-emergency assistance for education and health care. They've also contributed $6,200 to the Disadvantaged Youth Holiday Shopping program, in which children are give $100 each to be used on clothing. Rotarians also volunteered to shop with the children.

And much of this largesse comes from the Ballard Rotary's annual auction - where the highest bid is often more about giving than having.

JOSEPH GAMM is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.