Published: November 15, 2009 11:06 pm      

Trim-A-Tree auction raises more than $45,000

Paying hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars for a Christmas tree wasn’t uncommon Sunday at the Kokomo Mall.

A crowd of hundreds packed into the mall’s main hallway as auctioneers took turns selling 80 decorated trees and wreaths during the We Care Trim-A-Tree Festival auction fundraiser.

Mariesa Skogland, the event’s coordinator, said the fundraiser, which is a collaboration with Kokomo radio station WWKI-FM, brought in an unofficial total of $45,710.57. In addition to the $38,803.98 from the sale of the trees, $6,906.59 came from votes for the People’s Choice Award.

Auctioneers motored through $100, $200, sometimes more than $1,000, for each tree Sunday evening as potential buyers shot their arms up in the air to buy the decorated arbors.

Groups from around Howard County put up the trees Nov. 1. Since then, the trees and wreaths have been on display in the mall.

One wreath — “Be Dazzled By the 12 Days of Christmas” by Master Creations Jewelry in Kokomo — sold for $2,500.

Stacy Hall said she bought the wreath for her mother, Shirley Bunch, after winning a bid war that reached unexpected heights.

“I’m just dumbfounded,” Bunch said about her daughter’s gift, which included jewelry and other separate gifts along with the wreath. “I kept telling her ‘That’s too much. That’s too much.’”

A few buyers also donated their trees back to We Care to re-auction.

Kokomo real estate agent Jeannie Kuhn bought a tree for $325, then donated it back to We Care, which sold the tree a second time for $275.

Kuhn said this was the sixth year she bought a tree at the auction “just because it helps those with less than we [have].”

Before the auction began, We Care handed a trophy to 434 AMXF for its People’s Choice Award-winning tree, “A Red, White, and Blue Christmas.”

While the trees were on display the last two weeks, passers-by could drop a penny in a bucket in front of each tree and wreath. One penny counted for one vote.

Ashley Miller, a senior at North Miami High School in Denver, said she led AMXF’s tree decoration as part of her senior project.

Miller said she sold candy bars and organized a few other fundraisers, bringing in a total of $230. The money raised went straight into the tree’s bucket, she said.

The tree auction served as a precursor to We Care’s top fundraiser, its annual telethon, which is scheduled for the first weekend of December.

• Daniel Human is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He can be reached at 765-454-8570 or at daniel.human@kokomotribune.com.