COURTESY PAT AND ELINOR FEYERISEN This replica of a 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K roadster is up for sale to pay for the medical expenses of Patrick Valenti.

Fund-raiser seeks bids
on Mercedes-Benz replica

A recent birthday party and fund-raiser for Patrick Valenti, principal of Valenti Print Group, had one significant item left over after the event's auction.

His family and friends still hope it will bring in a chunk of change to defer his Lou Gehrig's disease-related medical expenses, racked up during the more than six months he's been unable to work.

Valenti's uncle Pat Feyerisen donated a replica of a 1936 Mercedes- Benz 500K roadster, built in 1989 by Classic Roadsters Ltd., noted makers of automotive replicas in North Dakota. The dealer's suggested retail at the time was $29,950 but the reserve price of at least $12,000 was not reached.

"If somebody wanted to offer more, hopefully they'd get into a bidding war, because we're trying to get as much as we can, obviously," said Jeff Feyerisen, son of the donor and Valenti's cousin.

One owner of a similar car was asking $16,500 via kitcars.com while another on the eBayMotors page had $10,900 in bids, but the amount was below the reserve price of the car.

Interested parties who didn't get a chance to bid at the party can contact Jeff or Pat at 671-0541.

Parade wraps

"There were 11 entrants this year compared to nine the year before, over 20 the year before," said judging committee Chairman Fred Moore, president of HSI Mechanical, a building contractor.

"This year and last year weren't really about having the homes there for buyers, but just to sustain the program, which is important to the industry."

The committee was made up of seven judges from various disciplines including contracting, architecture and mortgage banking. Judges had their own set of criteria, depending on their aspect of the industry, to use during 20-minute home-judging tours.

Most of the entries were single-family or multi-family units priced at $299,001and above. There are award divisions for lower price ranges, but developers "may not have had any inventory in that division," this time around, Moore said.

Some developers were practically standing on the gas pedal this year to get properties ready for judging. "When we got to Maui ... they warned us that the paint was still wet."

Winning homes on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island will be open for dreamers and droolers from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Guides were distributed in the Sept. 29 issue of MidWeek, a Star-Bulletin sister-publication.

The homes and maps can be found online at www.paradeofhomeshawaii.com.