Festival of Trees a success

On Saturday afternoon at the Cottonwood Creek Mall, the Special Santa program got a big boost in its fund-raising efforts going into the Christmas season, thanks to the first-ever Festival of Trees.

Businesses and local organizations each donated $250 to decorate the trees, which were then raffled in a live auction Saturday at the mall. Bidding on all trees started at $50, with a majority of the trees going for between $75 and $125. The highest selling tree was decorated by Suzy Ickes and Dana Ness of the Frontiersman -- the tree was raffled for $280 after some serious back-and-forth bidding between two parties.

At the conclusion of the event, the bidding started again -- several individuals "donated" their trees back to the Special Santa program, and the bidding began a second time for the same trees. One tree, decorated by the Boys and Girls Club, was bought and subsequently donated back to the club.

The Special Santa program, which works under the umbrella of Kids Are People, Inc., provided Christmas gifts to more than 2,300 children in the Valley last year, serving more than 800 families. It works closely with the Toys for Tots program and several other agencies to make sure Christmas is a special time for those in need.