Fabulous!

I'll admit I was apprehensive. Hall of Fame Fruit Tree Sale Organizer Betty Kearns had retired undefeated, giving ample notice. When no one stepped forward, she bailed us out on this year's sale. Let's just call it a phased retirement.

When the big day came, though, the club rose to the occasion. It's hard, but I'll resist the temptation to name names, since inevitably some very deserving folks wouldn't get their due. High on the list are the oh-so-important cashiers and tag pullers. They are on the front lines, and if they don't get things right, it usually comes out of the club's pocket. So many other moving parts, too--- fertilizer sales, holding area, chit counters, cash counters, plant unloaders and loaders, the club booth. And the make-or-break publicity effort. Give yourselves a humongous pat on the back, sale volunteers!

How was my tree sale day? The remarkable selection available at our sale helped me with some long-term wants. I bought a hard-to-find Fairchild #2 canistel to accompany my Trompo. For the avocado collection, I snapped up an ultra-rare Jose Antonio from Wayne Clifton--- along with two more of them for friends--- and a rarely-seen Catalina. Plus the grafted Zill Dark Surinam Cherry I've been seeking for ages. For a friend with has been yearning for a jaboticaba, Adam Schafran gave me a great price on a ready-to-fruit red jabo. And I added some of his rare tropicals to my container collection.

Earlier this year, after my wife tasted our Tropic Beauty peaches, I heard pleas to add another peach tree. The lovely Tropic Snow I bought from a club member will keep me in good graces at home.

From first-time vendors Craig and Celeste Welch (yes, the Celeste who manages our website, and who put the word about our sale out onto social media), I bought two Ingas that will make a perfect nitrogen-fixing screen needed in my church's landscaping.

And I took home a Younghans white sapote, a gift from a great fruit man. How good can a day be?

So what's the bottom line? Here in the bean-counting department, we are still nailing down the final details, but I can say that total sales increased more than 10% in dollars. On the other side of the ledger, our overhead costs dropped a bit. Adding it all up, the club banks 15% more than last year.

And we signed up 17 new members. I think this fruit tree thing may be starting to catch on.

We really do need to let Betty off the treadmill, so now would be a perfect headline-grabbing time for a noble volunteer to step forward to be tree sale chair for 2016. We've got a great thing going, perhaps the best one-day fruit tree sale in the land. Let's keep it up!