Event Coverage
Los Gatos-Saratoga District Annual Pumpkin Auction Raises Over $5,200
The Los Gatos-Saratoga District raised $5,235 for the Family Giving Tree's Operation Reindeer program at its annual pumpkin auction on Wednesday. The auction was lively, with lots of laughs and egging from California Association of REALTORS® 2005 President and District Chair Jim Hamilton and this year's auctioneer, Mike Jacobi, on-air personality, comedy writer, performer and proprietor of Willow Street Wood-Fired Pizza.
The auction took a more serious note as the meeting's sponsors Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Los Gatos (Doug Evans, broker) and Saratoga (Shawn Carroll, broker), Hamilton and Jacobi mentioned proceeds from the auction would make the holidays brighter for less fortunate families in the area. They appealed to members to be generous "for the children."
"There are families that this is IT for them for the holidays," said Carroll.
Hamilton noted, "The present a child receives through this program may be the only present the child will have at Christmas. The food certificate a family receives makes a difference whether they will have Christmas dinner or not."
As he described the items and prizes and encouraged members to bid and bid high, Jacobi said, "These items are nice, but their emotional value is priceless."
Operation Reindeer, now coordinated by the Family Giving Tree, is a program that distributes gifts, including food certificates, to needy families and seniors in the community during the holiday season. REALTORS® and affiliates of the Los Gatos-Saratoga District have supported the program for more than 25 years.
There was a wide array of decorated pumpkins, fall arrangements, themed gift baskets with big prizes, including rounds of golf, expensive wine, tickets to Sharks and Giants games, gift cards to local restaurants. A fall floral display with prizes and a pumpkin which displayed multi-colored lights was donated by the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Los Gatos and Saratoga offices and received the highest bid - $500, from Mark von Kaenel of Keller Williams Bay Area Estates.
Thank you to all the individuals and companies that donated multiple auction items, and to members who generously bid on them all for a good cause: Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Compass, Intero Real Estate Services, Sereno Group, Keller Williams Bay Area Estates, Montalvo Realty. Special thanks to Diane Chandler and Jo Preston, who have supported the auction for many years and donated their handmade pumpkin arrangements each year.
Hamilton also thanked this year's very engaging auctioneer, Jacobi, and members of the District Council, all who were present and helped with the event: District chair-elect Liz Doyle, Tim Goulet, Mary Kay Groth, Audrey Hutton, Ryan Nunnally, Dave Tonna, Mark Wong and Suzanne Yost.
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