LINCOLN - Tessa Gehring didn't know she had so many friends.

But it seemed like the whole town turned out to attend an Aug. 23 fundraiser for the Lincoln teenager, who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor.

The good news is that the tumor is not malignant.

The bad news is that it will likely continue to grow.

Shaped like an inverted L, the tumor is the width of a pinky finger and is attached to Tessa's brainstem, said her mother Wendy.

So far, it's robbed Tessa of hearing in her left ear.

"My left arm doesn't really work," Tessa added. And sometimes it affects her balance and her ability to swallow. And her neck and head now tilt to one side.

How much the tumor will cloud her future is uncertain. The family hears more news about her prognosis and treatment Sept. 10.

So far, they've been told, the tumor's inoperable.

And the bad news about Tessa came at a particularly tough time for the Gehring family.

Like 16 percent of people in Montana, they lack health insurance.

They couldn't afford it, said Butch Gehring. Until earlier this year, Butch ran a small family business, Gehring Lumber.

But this spring he, too, ran into health problems, forcing him onto Social Security disability.

So, when Lincoln rallied to throw Tessa's benefit, it couldn't have been more welcome.

Some 200 donors and volunteers came to the rescue.

There was a live auction, a silent auction, a dunk tank, a climbing tower, a kid's fishing pool, a gem hunt, jousting, face painting, a roast-pig barbecue, a rubber-ducky race and a street dance.

By the time the cleanup crew was bagging up the trash, $34,000 had been raised. Donations and a special burrito sale had earlier raised an additional $8,500.

"Oh, my God. It was amazing," said Wendy of the benefit. "It was incredible. It was better than the Fourth of July."

That says a lot, for a town known for its patriotic exuberance.

"We're pretty fortunate to live in this wonderful community," said Butch.

Tessa remains calm despite her health problems.

"It hasn't really made a difference to me," she said. "I haven't been in stress or anything."

Her parents credit her with having an amazingly positive attitude.

"She's been superbly tough through everything," said Butch.

Tessa's not one to enjoy the limelight.

A book lover, she's enjoyed reading Harry Potter and the Twilight series. And she loves music, music, music - from "Sweeney Todd" to the Beatles, to Eminem, to Slipknot.

"I like writing - any kind of writing," she said, whether it's penning poetry or short stories or even reports.

She also enjoys art, particularly drawing and photography.

"I like to travel. I want to go to Europe. I've gone to Seattle and a couple times to Minnesota. I don't have preferences. I want to go everywhere," she said. "Every place has something cool to look at."

Those who know her, such as teachers Annette Gardner and Cindy Brady, say she is very, very funny, and is known for her wry sense of humor.

"She's a very refreshing little person," said Gardner. She loves to shop, especially for high heels, because she's short.

And she loves talking on the phone with friends, and communicating with them on My Space.

"She's a loyal friend," said Gardner.

Because Tessa doesn't seek attention, the trio of organizers - Judy Weissbach, Gardner and Brady - had to first make sure they could get Tessa to her own event.

Getting the rest of the community to show up was no problem.

"It went from a balloon, a small balloon," said Gardner, "to a hot air balloon. It grew and grew and grew."

"We had a vision," said Weissbach. "We met almost every week all summer long. It just proves you can do what you need to do."

One family donated a semi-trailer full of cords of firewood to auction off.

Other items ran the gamut from getaway weekends, to beds, manicures, sides of beef, stump grinding, woodworking, a sapphire ring, and Grandma Perkl's pasties. Although Grandma Perkl is now deceased, her famous secret recipe lives on.

The local sheriff deputy and the postmaster volunteered shifts in an icy dunk tank.

The National Guard brought their portable climbing tower.

Three pigs were donated and roasted for the barbecue, which fed at least 500.

And that evening, Richard Hader, a trooper with the Montana Highway Patrol and president of the Montana Hope Project, stepped forward to deliver a very special surprise.

Montana Hope Project is picking up the full tab, $5,000, for Tessa to visit Italy this coming summer on a school trip - paying for everything from her luggage, to her passport, to her ticket and spending money.

Hader first heard about Tessa when he stopped in Lincoln to buy some jerky. When he saw the benefit poster he asked around, made a few phone calls and learned of Tessa's wish to travel with her schoolmates to Italy.

Hader mentioned her story to Gov. Schweitzer during a Hope Project fund raiser at the Yellowstone Club. As soon as Schweitzer shared Tessa's story, a donor stepped forward.

"It was absolutely heart warming," said Gardner of the response, not only in Lincoln, but the surrounding communities - as far as Augusta, Helena, Great Falls, Helmville and Ovando.

The morning after the benefit, Gardner was at the park, helping with cleanup, and a resident confided, "I'm so proud of Lincoln."

"That's just it," said Gardner. "That's what we all felt. Proud and just humbled."

Lincoln, like any small town can have its ups and downs and disagreements, she said, "but do they ever come together when the chips are down."

To donate

An account in Tessa Gehring's name has been set up at First Bank of Lincoln. Send checks to First Bank of Lincoln, P.O. Box 8, Lincoln, MT 59639

On the Web

Click here to learn more about the Montana Hope Project

Reporter Marga Lincoln: 447-4074 or marga.lincoln@helenair.com