Auction Guests Shell Out Top Dollar for Town Turtles

Supporters of the Town Turtles project and members of the Sandy Springs Society gathered one last time at Red Baron’s Antiques to bid farewell to their tortoise friends at the Town Turtles Head Home Auction.   The turtle fans -- 715 strong -- came fully prepared to shell out some serious money to help their friends return home.

After welcoming comments by project chairs Ingrid Brunt and Jan Collins, the bidding was open by auctioneer Allan Baitcher assisted by Bob Brown, owner of Red Baron’s Antiques, and his staff.

On the first round of bidding, Mr. Baitcher encouraged participants to engage in a friendly bidding war, allowing the highest bidder to select the turtle of choice.

The first bid came in at $19,000 and the winner walked away with Traveling Turtle; it was the first of three turtles that particular bidder purchased that evening.   Traveling Turtle, complete with camera and backpack, was designed by Grant Park Artist Jeanne Colin, herself an adventurer.

The highest bid came in later in the evening when UGA football fans grappled over Tuga, the UGA football-inspired tortoise, who sold for $20,000.   Tuga was sold to Chris Brogdon, owner of J. Christopher Restaurant.  He was created by artist Valerie T. Thompson, herself an alumnus of UGA.

Mrstickyourneckoutforsandysprings, a turtle that had to be recreated from scratch by artist John Feight after it was burned to the ground by vandals, sold for the tidy sum of $5,500 at auction.   Slow Down Turtle, who was repaired with the help of Sandy Springs Toyota after it was beheaded by vandals, sold for $6,000.   All of the turtles that were damaged during summer incidences of vandalism were repaired by a quickly-organized turtle restoration committee, headed up by Sandy Springs Society member Linda Juckett, along with turtle artists Emily Juckett and Maria-Louise Evans.  The remainder of the 56” fiberglass turtles fetched between $4,000 and $7,500. Baby turtles -- some miniature replicas of the originals -- standing just eight inches tall, sold for up to $1,750.   A silent auction, featuring more baby turtles and turtle-themed items, brought in additional project funds.

Kerry Gill and Joan Plunkett co-chaired the highly-successful Turtles Head Home auction, which realized proceeds over $300,000.   Exact figures are still being tabulated.

“The turtle project took on a life of its own from the beginning and became an overwhelming success due to our widespread community support and dedicated hard work over a year and a half by Sandy Springs Society members,” said Town Turtle project co-chair, Ingrid Brunt, “We will be forever grateful to Northside Hospital for underwriting this project.”

The proceeds from the project, including the auction, the sale of turtle-related merchandise, and the sale of two upcoming books -- Turtle Tales for Kids, in both English and Spanish -- will be awarded to Heritage Sandy Springs in the form of a grant. Heritage Sandy Spring will use the grant money to develop an entertainment lawn at the corner of Sandy Springs Circle and Bluestone Road. The terraced green space will provide a much-needed, all-purpose facility for community gatherings, and will allow Heritage Sandy Springs to expand their program offerings.

Some members of the community have expressed sadness about the end of the turtle project. But many of the turtles will “head home” to very public locations.   Titian Turtle will remain on display indefinitely at the Sandy Springs Regional Library, while Turtlefly will continue to delight children for years to come from his lookout point in the garden at the Alan A. Lewis Preschool at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School.   The aquatic-inspired Fen, by renowned artist Linda Leeger Stokes, has been purchased by the Billi Marcus Foundation and will be on display at the new Atlanta Aquarium when it opens in November, 2005.   Sparky, who received frequent visits from the children of Sandy Springs at the fire station on Johnson Ferry Road throughout the summer, was purchased by a group of Sandy Springs residents lead by Society member Laura Jones at the request of the firefighters.   The fire fighters couldn’t bear to see Sparky live anywhere else.

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