DATE: Monday, October 6, 1997               TAG: 9710060086

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   73 lines

AUCTION BENEFITS ST. JUDE'S CELEBRITY ITEMS, FROM TYSON'S GLOVE TO B.B.'S GUITAR, AID HOSPITAL

Celebrity items were auctioned Saturday night, all to the benefit of a charity named for the patron saint of lost causes.

There was a Tina Turner poster signed quite near those famous legs. A brand new electric guitar signed by bluesman B.B. King. Two boxing gloves, one signed by notorious ear-biter Iron Mike Tyson, the other by heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield.

These donated items went for top dollar during a fund-raiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. The event, held on the top floor of KoKoamo's, was expected to net $100,000 for the research facility founded by the late Danny Thomas.

Steve and Bee Fox of Virginia Beach came to support the charity and find some celebrity sports autographs for Steve's collection.

``Things are going for twice their value,'' Fox said early in the evening's bidding. ``Which is great for St. Jude's.''

But, in one instance, perhaps not so great for Bee Fox.

When the Tyson-Holyfield gloves went up for sale, the auctioneer noted that ``they come complete with a piece of ear.''

He was kidding, folks.

Steve Fox nabbed them for a cool $600. Bee, less than impressed with the gloves and perhaps unaware of the boxing significance of ``The Bite'' during the heavyweights' rematch this year, gave her husband an earful.

``Oh, my God! You spent $600 on those?''

He tried to explain.

She set him straight.

``No more. Enough.''

``No mas,'' he conceded.

Peter G. Decker Jr., who has been involved with the center since before it opened in 1962, was delighted at the prices netted by such items.

Silver-haired and black-tuxed, Decker estimated that between the auction and a gourmet gala Wednesday night, more than $250,000 will be raised locally and ``every dime will go to research there.''

``Somebody just bought a jacket for $2,800,'' he said, adding that St. Jude himself must have been watching since ``it fits perfectly.''

Decker is a Norfolk criminal lawyer and philanthropist. He is also the man locals close to St. Jude's call ``the Danny Thomas of Tidewater.'' Thomas, the entertainer who founded the center, asked Decker to help build financial support here when the research center was in its early stages.

Frank and Teressa Everett, ``good friends of Pete's,'' came to show their support.

Everett, who had not attended any of the previous St. Jude's auctions but has been active in other events for the charity, said he might donate some items next year, such as an autograph from Mickey Mantle's rookie year.

Greg Span, a Virginia Beach contractor, walked off with B.B. King's guitar after bidding $2,300. He also made a strong play for a guitar signed by the rockers from Aerosmith. Before Saturday, he was without guitars.

``Maybe I'll collect them now that I've got a start,'' he said.

Regardless of the spectacle surrounding the auction, Span said, St. Jude's is a good cause and that is what matters to him. He is a father, and his little girl recently got out of Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters after successful surgery.

``I'm in a position where I can give something back,'' he said. ``So I don't mind giving.''

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was the first institution established to research catastrophic childhood diseases, and has been responsible for numerous advances in treating such diseases, including the discovery of a cure for lymphocytic cancer. Six years after the death of Thomas, it remains the largest childhood cancer research center in the world. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

GARY C. KNAPP

Peter G. Decker Jr., left, and Jerry Stranley examine bids on

clipboards so they can decide whether to pursue items on the silent

auction table at KoKoamo's in Virginia Beach on Sunday.

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