213 Prizes up for Bid at Birchtree's Benefit for Learning Auction on Nov. 5 Benefiting Local Autism Programs

Looking to jump-start your holiday shopping? The Birchtree Center will put 213 prizes up for bid at its fundraising auction on Nov. 5 in Eliot, Maine. All proceeds benefit the nonprofit’s autism programs in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.

“You can get some great bargains on items for your holiday shopping list—and help local children and youth with autism at the same time,” Executive Director Sandra Pierce-Jordan said.

Auction guests can bid to win gift baskets, vacation packages, fine art, jewelry, beer, wine, ski tickets, sports memorabilia, dining gift cards, family entertainment packages and other prizes. The evening features live and silent auctions, raffles, hearty appetizers, desserts, a cash bar, and folk and rock music by Elijah Clark and Demijon.

Two hundred and thirty businesses, most of them in New Hampshire and Maine, donated prizes and sponsorships for this year’s auction—the highest number in the event’s four-year history. “We’re blown away by the generosity of local businesses,” Pierce-Jordan said.

Auction sponsors and table hosts include C&J Bus Lines, Cross Insurance, Optima Bank and Trust, Portsmouthnh.com, Rockwell Homes, The Sound, Ann and Peter Tarlton, Coastal Fitness, Kennedy Gallery and Custom Framing, Frank and Liliane Conlan, the Desrosiers/Valdez Family, the Kanner Family, Glicka and Michael Kaplan, and Andy and Julie Smith.

The event is at the Shipyard Brewery’s Regatta Room at 28 Levesque Drive in Eliot, Maine, from 7-10:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased by calling 603-433-4192 or by visiting www.birchtreecenter.org.

Proceeds support Birchtree’s local autism programs, including a series of admission-free autism programs for families and educators. Coming up next is a question-and-answer session for parents on “Surviving—and Enjoying—the Winter Holidays” on Nov. 9 from 5:30-7 p.m. at The Birchtree Center at 2064 Woodbury Avenue in Newington.