Auctioneer Winston Bailey, at right, took bids for a Christmas tree at the 18th annual Festival of Trees fundraiser for the Family Place on Thursday evening, in the showroom at Great Plains Ford. The live and silent auctions raised a total of $52,000, with some funds still coming in as of Friday. The highest price paid for a tree was $4,100, bid by Mal Barber of Barber Motors for the Southern Glassworks tree. The silent auction raised $11,608 from 98 items. Over and above the festival funds was a donation of $25,000 from Norm and Shirley Mondor, the last of four donations to fulfill a pledge of $100,000 made four years ago.
