That was a fun evening! My first sponsor, Chris Wright, donated his tree this year to Gonzaga Prep’s auction. I got to stand up and tell the large crowd about the
Susie Forest and how much they’d like to have a tree in it. The people were finishing up their dinner and chatting away at the tables so I started with the “striptease” (where I remove my sweater to show my Susie Forest T-shirt) in hopes of quieting them down. It worked a bit. As I walked back to the table I heard for the first bid for $100 amid all the talk and I crossed my fingers that it would go for at least the value of the planting. It passed that price and kept going. The auctioneer was about to yell “sold” when somebody pointed upstairs at another bidder and the price went up. The planting went for a good price. The winners were a mother and daughter who want to honor a family member in the valley or at Eastern Washington University. It will be great to work with them.

I realized after I got home that I should have taken their picture with the jar of Tree Kibbles that they also won. I have to remember to do that at the next auction.

As I walked around at the breakup of the event giving out bookmarks one woman said that she had one because I had planted a tree for her family a few years ago. Did I remember that her husband and sons had taken some of Susie’s ashes on a bike trip across the country. Of course I did. I remember hearing about their trip on TV, going to their house, knocking on the door and asking their foster son if he thought they would be willing to take Susie on this dream adventure. They agreed and this fulfilled one of Susie’s ambitions – to be on a bike trip from ocean to ocean. When they returned home we placed the ashes by the roots of their new tree in Cannon Hill Park. Now she told me they are planning a bike trip from Canada to Mexico and I asked if they might be willing to take Susie on another adventure. She thought so.

Finishing #6 on my list of resolutions was my goal for this week and I did it! Do you wonder what it was? Well, I got my tree planting supplies (except for the cookies, which I guess should be another resolution) in order. Yay!! I probably should put that one down again for fall because of my organizational style – drop and run. But for now the bookmarks, the tree-grams, the laminated bookmarks, and the brochures are all ready to go. And the supplies for the next batch are easy to find.

I am ready, set, go for tree plantings!