Hendersonville's Bearfootin' benefit art auction, Oct. 25, 2025.n The event set a fundraising record. (USA Today via Reuters)
The western NC town of Hendersonville, one of many communities still recovering after Helene rolled through in 2024, shattered their fundraising record this weekend for the “Bearfootin” Auction.
On a chilly but sunny afternoon over the weekend, Hendersonville’s Historic Courthouse Square was full of colorfully painted sculptures.
A spirited crowd had turned out for an event counting down to the end of the month-long Bearfootin’ Auction, a benefit for local nonprofits.
People rang cowbells and cheered every time a new bid came in online and was updated on a dry-erase leaderboard. Live musicians played guitar and upright bass.
“It’s our best year so far,” Hendersonville Downtown Coordinator Terrye Jacobs told the Times-News.
“Everything gets kind of frantic at the end. It’s really fun to be here,” she said.
By the start of the event, the auction’s total had already surpassed the standing record by thousands of dollars.
By its close at 6 p.m., the benefit raised $140,800 for Friends of Downtown Hendersonville and 20 local nonprofits. That’s $18,000 more than last year.
From left, Jose, Isabella, Yvonne and Irene Guido, sponsors of the bear Emerging Hope, and Jim Brewer, from Hendersonville Family YMCA, at Hendersonville’s Bearfootin’ benefit art auction, Oct. 25, 2025. (USA Today via Reuters)
Between 150 and 200 people came through the event from 4 to 6 p.m., Jacobs said.
The auction has been online since the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly expanded its bidder pool and totals, she said.
Bidders are eager this year to support nonprofits close to their hearts, “especially because we’re coming off a very hard year,” Jacobs said.
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Eight bears sold for the flat “buy it now” price of $10,000 in the first 24 hours, Hendersonville Events Coordinator Dakota Parker told the Times-News.
The huge surge of purchases on the opening day was “crazy,” he said. It’s normal for a few to sell right off the bat, but never eight, he said.
“We might not have an auction,” he remembered thinking.
The quality of the art is especially good this year too, Parker said.
“When (the artists) get the chance to do it, they put their best foot forward,” he said.
Hendersonville’s Bearfootin’ benefit art auction, Oct. 25, 2025. (USA Today via Reuters)
Illustrator and graphic designer Sarah Maupin painted the bear Carolina Connections, sponsored by the Hendersonville Woman’s Club and benefitting the Children and Family Resource Center.
It was her first time painting a bear and she spent around 70 hours on it starting in March, she told the Hendersonville Times-News.
As someone who normally works in two dimensions and in black-and-white, the switch to a 3D sculpture meant she had to take her time to adjust.
“Acrylics are not super forgiving. I had to be strategic,” she said.
She’s already been talking to sponsors about painting a bear next year.
Interior designer Andrea Martin painted Lady Haven, a bear honoring Lake Lure’s Flowering Bridge, which was damaged beyond repair in Tropical Storm Helene.
It was her eighth bear but she only started days before the deadline because a broken shoulder and collarbone had kept her from it.
A group of Lake Lure residents put money together to buy it and keep it in the town.
“There’s been a lot of tears, a lot of hugs, a lot of thank yous. Art can be so healing,” Martin said.
Pisgah, the Centennial Bear, was sponsored by the Town of Laurel Park to celebrate 100 years since its founding.
Peter Parry bid $10,000 in honor of his late husband, he told the Times-News.
He wants to place it at the scenic panorama at Jump Off Rock.
Artist Ambre Mehenni remembers seeing the painted bears while working at an area summer camp not long after moving from the Netherlands. She’s wanted to paint one all that time.
“Now, 10 years later, I got to,” she told the Times-News.
Brookie, inspired by native brook trout, was sponsored by her good friends Kait McConomy and Alex Tompkins to benefit the nonprofit Safelite, serving survivors of violence and abuse.
Jose and Yvonne Guido, owners of Royal Park landscaping, sponsored the bear Emerging Hope, a multi-colored tribute to those affected by Helene, with mud on its feet.
“It represents everything people went through. (It’s) something beautiful coming out of something so negative,” Yvonne said.
The bear benefits the Hendersonville Family YMCA.
“We’ve been bidding but probably surrendered and now we’re just enjoying being here,” David and Leah Currier, who drove in from Connelly Springs, told the Hendersonville Times-News.
They had never been to the auction before.
“It’s a fun town and this is a good reason to come,” he said.
Reporting by George Fabe Russell, Hendersonville Times-News / Hendersonville Times-News
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