Holiday treats and trees, tiny and tall

What recession? Not in La Conner last weekend. A slew of activities started the holiday festivities – and the season's spending.

The Christmas season began 6:30 p.m. Friday night, when all doors opened at the newly-built La Conner Swinomish Library, letting in a crowd of waiting bidders for the Tiny Tree auction. At 6:45, after remarks from Susan Macek, La Conner Library Foundation director, and library Director Jean Markert, one "Let the auction begin!" sent the audience to the bidding tables.

For the next hour, families and friends circled, studying the 15 specially-ornamented trees and thei...