Hi All,

As some of you may have seen, I was the most recent winner of Rafed's "Guess My Name #3" contest.  I am the lucky winner of a tree from Joe Morle which was labeled "Black Triana".  There is some confusion over whether or not the tree is actually "Black Triana" since the figs are not dark. 

While I am excited about the win, there is an opportunity to help Jon out with his Fig4Fun Foundation.  After discussing the idea with Rafed, this is the path we have chosen for this tree.  So here are the details for the sale:

1. Bids to be submitted to my (NOT RAFED OR JON'S) email.  The link is available by clicking my name over <<< there next to my mug shot.  In the subject line, type in the word "prize".  Please do not PM me with a bid.
2. Bidding closes at 8:59p.m. (eastern time) on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012.
3. The winning bidder will be notified on Saturday, Sept. 29 2012
4. The tree will be sent out on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012 (or soon afterwards).  It will be sent bare rooted and without leaves.
5. The tricky part... Payment.  As of yet, the process for the Fig4Fun Foundation is still in progress.  Payment is expected to be made when the foundation is ready to accept donations.  Yes, we are doing this on the honor system.
6. Finally the fun part... In the spirit of inclusion, the winning bidder may not necessarily be the highest bidder.  If you want to bid high bidder style, go for it.  If for some reason you are limited in your bid, tell me the motivation for wanting this fig (not why you will not or can not spend more), and I will weight the high bid against the bid/story of the best story against.

James,

Since we are doing this to help Jon out in accomplishing this goal, I will ship the product at my expense so 100% of the proceeds go directly to the F4F foundation.

If I can suggest that payments go directly to Jon for the time being.

To make it sweeter, I will also include a couple ( 6in. avg. ) cuttings. Those will be a surprise. But they will be something interesting.

Good luck

You guys are awesome!

What an excellent start! We all have extra good figs that we can do good with. How are you doing the payment thing exactly? I have some I'd be proud to contribute.

Alexis,

If it's o.k. with James and Jon then I say just PayPal it directly to Jon.
Not my call though.

That is a bit of sticky business at this moment.  I corresponded with Jon and they are in the process of getting accounts set up for foundation.  Once the accounts are set up, whoever makes the payments is able to get a deduction for charitable donations on their 2012 taxes (that's like getting the tree for 20% off your bid).  If the payments are made directly to Jon, the deduction is lost.

At the end of the sale, I will send an email to Jon letting him know how much to expect and from who.   Payment can be made once the foundation's accounts are set up. 

~james

Bumpity bumpity bump bump.

Okay how do we bid?

Send an email to James with your $$$ amount.

Of all weeks to be too busy to visit my favorite forum!! 

The drama!! 

The excitement!!

Who IS the winner???  An inquiring mind want to know!

Pleased to announce we have a winner.
Got the word from James a little while ago.

This could be the first for the F4F Foundation but definitely not the last.
I, along with James am glad to help Jon. Jon is the one and only reason why we are all here today. Because of this, I have made many many friends from all across the Globe.

This is the best forum by far!

It is upto James and the winner to decide the details of this auction, I am in no position to say who, what, where or why.

The only thing I will say is this, there is a little twist.
I will be sending the mother tree instead of the little 1gl. prize as promised.
It is in a 3gl pot and I will bareroot it but will trim it to fit the box. Much better deal than before if you ask me. I think the winner will be pleased.

I will also include a couple cuttings of a rare fig. One that brings some good money on Ebay.

Good luck to the winner.

For me this was as much fun and as exciting as getting new trees.  I hope everyone feels a bit more inspired to help get the Fig4Fun Foundation established. 

Congratulations to our winner for the upgrade and the extra goodies.  Thanks to Rafed and to Jon for making all of this possible.

Congratulations :-)

Good job guys. Congratulation to a winner.