In 1997, our family enjoyed the unique opportunity of sponsoring an entry in the Georgia Festival of Trees here in Atlanta. What began as a humble community service project unexpectedly snowballed into an incredible experience for our homeschool.
On a neighbor's tip, husband Bill and I began researching the Beanie Baby phenomenon earlier that summer as an investment opportunity. During a number of date nights, we were able to acquire twenty-five retired "Coral" Beanies from a Hartsfield Airport gift shop. Our initial investment became a nest egg worth five times that much, and we were on our way.
The children and I enjoyed collecting favorites, and soon they were playing with their new Beanies all over the house. More Beanies were routinely released, and the excitement remained fresh. Collecting Beanies was FUN!
Then, it became something more. There was an opportunity here to do some good.
Over the next four months, the children and I systematically traded our grubstake on the Internet with collectors from all over the world until we had acquired 101--or three tiers--of the most-coveted Beanies in America.
Meanwhile, Bill and I set about designing a wooden Christmas tree with Plexiglas shelves that would display the mint-condition Beanies to their best advantage. Collectors enthusiastically facilitated rare trades with us to increase tree's rarity. Even though social media was in its infancy, the spotlight began to shine on our project. Jill Becker from WSB-TV paid a visit to our little home in Power Springs to admire our Beanie collection and capture a song* the children performed.
Our family rode the wave of attention to the World Congress Center, where we began constructing and decorating the tree. But there was a problem. The tree was too popular and in danger of vandalism. In response, the festival directors commissioned a Plexiglas enclosure and assigned security guards to protect it hours before the festival opened. Then, in a brilliant PR move, they decided to raffle off the tree to festival-goers for a dollar a ticket. As a result, The Beanie Baby Tree earned the most money of any tree in history--over $10,000!
This incredible opportunity yielded priceless lessons in mathematics, economics, grammar, sociology, geography, and organization as our family corresponded with avid collectors across the world. Our last Beanie, newly-released "Diana," arrived from England the night before the festival opened and took the place of honor as the tree's "star."
By God's grace, we had "timed" the market perfectly. The end result? After our final online sale in April, the proceeds from our humble nest egg had provided enough Beanies for the Egleston tree and paid for Hannah's braces, new carpet, a handful of favorite Beanies for each of the children, and taxes on the entire adventure.
What an experience!
Kay O'Hara
December 25, 2022
*"It's alright to be little bitty, little bitty Beanie in a great big city, little bitty tag, little bitty paws, little bitty Beanie for a great big cause..." --adapted from Tom T. Hall's song, "Little Bitty."
