Thermopolis may be the cookie jar capital of America. It has earned that unofficial but impressive title because people there have bought more than $1 million worth of cookie jars in the past 30 years, all to help the needy.
Auctioneer John Gerrells says he believes the small city of about 4,600 residents should be listed in the Guinness World Records for having, per capita, more cookie jars than anywhere in the world.
Gerrells founded the unique and popular fundraiser that raises money by auctioning off cookie jars to help cancer patients facing high medical bills.
In March, after three decades of leading the event, Gerrells was the beneficiary.
He is in a battle against cancer and can now focus on his health and family after the auction raised a record $70,000.
Each year, tens of thousands of dollars are raised through cookie jar auctions around town.
“Thirty years ago, if we raised $10,000, $12,000, we thought, ‘Wow, you know, that was a lot,'” said Sonja Holm, the cookie jar auction clerk. “The numbers have just continued to grow.”
Organizers of the auction to help Gerrells counted more than 450 cookie jars plus other items, ranging from rocking chairs to artwork, that were bid on by the crowd of more than 500 who gathered to honor and help the man who started the auctions.
“It was a very emotional and actually overwhelming with the outpour of love,” said Dolly Daniels.
Daniels has helped organize the auctions for the past three decades and is known as one of "Gerrells’ Girls.”
Her cookies are especially popular, and she has seen people in bidding wars over her sought-after treats, which can go for hundreds of dollars.
“It was very touching because you see how much in 33 years one man has made such a difference,” said Bridget Bury, another original organizer of the auction. “I think he's showed so many people what it's like to give a little bit of time in two or three hours for an auction and come out with so much to help that family.”
Cookie jars have a special spot in the hearts of Thermopolis residents since more than $1 million has been raised by auctioning off the quirky items. In the past 30 years to help residents battling medical issues, auctioneers John Gerrells and John Holms have gotten audiences to bid against each and have sold cookie jars for as much as $800. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Bridget Bury, from left, John Gerrells, Rita Evans and Dolly Daniels (not pictured) were the brawn and brains behind the Cookie Jar Auctions in Thermopolis, Wyoming. What started as an idea to raise an extra $500 has exploded into a fundraiser that has raised more than $1 million for those in need in Hot Springs County. (Courtesy Bridget Bury) 
Cookie jars have a special spot in the hearts of Thermopolis residents since more than $1 million has been raised by auctioning off the quirky items. In the past 30 years to help residents battling medical issues, auctioneers John Gerrells and John Holms have gotten audiences to bid against each and have sold cookie jars for as much as $800. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Cookie jars have a special spot in the hearts of Thermopolis residents since more than $1 million has been raised by auctioning off the quirky items. In the past 30 years to help residents battling medical issues, auctioneers John Gerrells and John Holms have gotten audiences to bid against each and have sold cookie jars for as much as $800. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily)
Began As A ‘Slave' Auction
The first Thermopolis Cookie Jar Auction was to help the high school football team raise money to go to Australia.
It was 1993, and the parents and boys were searching for ways to be able to send them off for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Gerrells had been an auctioneer for six years and had read an article about an Future Farmers of America group in Montana that held a benefit to raise money.
Students were auctioned off to work as a “slave" for a day. They were also asked to bring a cookie jar to auction off. They raised $50 per jar.
“We had eight boys and I figured that would be $400 to add to our pot,” Gerrells said.
The parents thought it was a fun idea and decided not to limit it to just eight cookie jars. Gerrells was skeptical that he could sell the 50 jars they gathered that day, but he was willing to try.
“Between the dinner and the cookie jars, we made $4,000 that night,” Gerrells said.
He was surprised by the success and the fact that some bidding wars pushed prices north of $400 mark for just one jar.
That same year, a local resident needed a fundraiser to cover medical expenses.
Gerrells suggested another cookie jar auction.
Another dinner and sale raised about $7,000.
That’s when it started to become apparent that people in Thermopolis will gladly overpay for cookie jars — even if they already have several — when the cause is right.
Dolly Daniels has baked countless cookies to auction off in Thermopolis’ cookie jar auctions over the years. Daniels has seen her cookies auctioned off to the highest bidder for hundreds of dollars and is always ready to bake more when the need arises to help those in need in her community. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
A cookie jar that was once owned by his grandmother is made even more special to auctioneer John Gerrells because of all the Cookie Jar auctions he has overseen over the past 30 years. Sonja Holms who has helped tally the bids said although she does not have the exact figures, cookie jars have brought in more than a million dollars to help those hit with large medical bills. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Over the last 30 years, Auctioneer John Gerrells has hosted numerous cookie jar auctions in Thermopolis and some of the cookie jars have taken on stories of their own. There is the goose that shows up at most auctions and can go for a few hundred dollars each time she makes an appearance. Gerrells has also kept a few for his own collection such as the border collie that reminds him of his own dogs and sheep wagon and the Santa cowboy that he has been told resembles him with his big white beard. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily)
Coveted Cookie Jars
That’s led to some popular, or infamous, cookie jars that have run the circuit for years, like a goose that surfaces at almost every cookie jar auction.
Others have made only one appearance before quietly being added into private collections.
“When my mother was alive, she would go all over Billings and gather up cookie jars,” Gerrells said. “I'd come home with a pickup load of cookie jars.”
His niece and older sister have now taken up the cause and hit up yard sales and antique shops to keep up the supply of cookie jars.
Gerrells has a sheep wagon cookie jar that became a tradition to bring to auctions.
He will fill it with cookies and a friend will always bid on it. She will then bring it to the next auction, again full of cookies, and it's Gerrells' turn to bid on it.
Holm said these small traditions make the auctions more fun.
She also has a barn cookie jar that she used to take to the auctions and buy back until the price started getting too high.
“Fifteen years ago I had to pay $150 for it,” Holm said. “I didn’t want to lose it, so I had to stop taking it.”
Over the last 30 years, Auctioneer John Gerrells has hosted numerous cookie jar auctions in Thermopolis and some of the cookie jars have taken on stories of their own. There is the goose that shows up at most auctions and can go for a few hundred dollars each time she makes an appearance. Gerrells has also kept a few for his own collection such as the border collie that reminds him of his own dogs and sheep wagon and the Santa cowboy that he has been told resembles him with his big white beard. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Over the last 30 years, Auctioneer John Gerrells has hosted numerous cookie jar auctions in Thermopolis and some of the cookie jars have taken on stories of their own. There is the goose that shows up at most auctions and can go for a few hundred dollars each time she makes an appearance. Gerrells has also kept a few for his own collection such as the border collie that reminds him of his own dogs and sheep wagon and the Santa cowboy that he has been told resembles him with his big white beard. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily)
The Next Generation
After 30 years, the founders of the cookie jar auction are ready to retire, but they want to see the fundraisers continue.
“My John was worried about who was going to carry this on,” Holm said. “But at Gerrells' cookie jar, we had other people step forward to do auctioneering and we realized it will go on.”
Gerrells' granddaughter Rashan was one of those who stepped up at his cookie jar auction and overcame her natural shyness to try her hand at auctioneering.
“Rashan was pretty apprehensive at the first few items, but after she got through a couple of them, she learned,” Gerrells said. “Several people complimented her about taking over Grandpa's place.”
Gerrells is encouraging her to go to auctioneer school and learn the trade right.
He said that the success of the cookie jar auctions depends on an auctioneer who can keep the crowd engaged.
“Everybody helps everybody and we always have,” Bury said. “We all have those same values that we were taught that you help another person and I just think our community is a very giving community.”
They have also had numerous people who were helped in the past with their medical expenses who now make a point of showing up to bid.
“It's a way of paying forward,” Holm said.
For 33 years, cookie jar auctions have become the go-to event in Thermopolis, and Gerrells believes they will continue long after he is no longer able to be an auctioneer.
“We live in the best little town in Wyoming,” Gerrells said. “I hope and pray my little granddaughter will keep practicing her auctioneering and that Thermopolis will keep these cookie jar auctions going.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
