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Briefs
Potato chip with manatee image up for bids at online auction
By Times Staff Writer
Published July 16, 2005
A Virginia woman is trying to use a would-be dinner item to help manatees.
Kimberly Matthiensen, who once adopted Betsy, the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park manatee, has offered up for auction on eBay an Idaho potato that bears a remarkable likeness to a manatee. All proceeds from the sale will go to Save the Manatee Club, according to a news release from the club. Named "Spud," the potato was already generating bids on the Internet auction site just hours after it was posted Friday. On the auction site, Matthiensen said she thought finding Spud among her family's meal offerings one evening was a sign God had answered her prayers to find a way to help manatees. She goes on to explain the plight of manatees in Florida and notes that the eyes on her potato resemble the scars that wild manatees carry because of collisions with boats. The high bid Friday afternoon was $5.50; the auction closes in six days. You can get a look at the potato by going to www.ebay.com and typing "potato manatee" in the search area.
[Last modified July 16, 2005, 00:24:14]
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