Spring Birdhouse Sale raises money for autism group

The Knights of Columbus Terence Cardinal Cooke Council will hold its second annual Spring Birdhouse Sale on Saturday and Sunday at its home church of St. Teresa of Avila.

//

The Sunday sale will be held from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the church at 2921 Columbia Road. A preview sale will be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday after the vigil mass.

"People (Saturday) get the first shot at buying one," said birdhouse builder Steve Crawford, a council member and event organizer.

Admission to the preview show and sale is $5, and coffee and desserts will be served.

All proceeds benefit the Walk for Autism-Augusta, an organization that provides scholarships and resources for parents of autistic children.

Crawford and council member Don DeClue built nearly 50 birdhouses, which were sold at the first birdhouse sale raising $1,351 for the autism awareness event.

"This year, we have more people involved besides me and Don, so hopefully, we're going to have at least as many, if not more," Crawford said.

The annual sale was born from his hobby of building birdhouses from recycled materials, which became his 2008 Lent project.

"I don't buy any materials for this," Crawford said. "I try to get salvaged wood or discarded wood or wood that is given to me."

Every time he visits his grandfather's property in Cohutta, Ga., he takes a few boards from a barn that was built of hard red oak. For the roofs on the birdhouses, he gets creative and uses whatever materials are available or are donated, including flooring tiles and scraps of metal.

Using recycled materials requires different building approaches, he said.

"Mostly, since it is scrap wood, I have to kind of figure out how they fit together. They are not just from one single pattern," Crawford said.

Some of the birdhouses are rustic, while others are more formal.

"Everybody likes something different," he said, adding that most birdhouses will cost $25-$50.

Any birdhouses that don't sell during the preview will be available Sunday.

"If somebody feels like they want to donate a birdhouse to the sale, call me and we'll make arrangements to pick it up," Crawford said.

Monetary donations for the Walk for Autism also will be accepted.

For information, call Crawford at (706) 840-1739.