Another year has come and gone for the annual Festival of Trees, with nearly $9,000 raised on tree sales alone.
One tree in particular raised $4,500, and was the highest bid Doreen Kushnir, organizer of the event, has ever seen.
“I have been doing this for over 10 years, and that is the highest bid so far,” she said. “It's fantastic.”
Gwen Madden purchased the tree, and described it as fate.
“When I walked in, it was the first one I saw. I glanced around and I just knew,” Madden said.
The tree included not only ornaments and twinkling lights, but also gift certificates for upcoming concerts, memberships, and other family activities.
Madden said she knew the money was going towards a good cause, which makes winning even sweeter.
“It helps so many people,” she said. “The more we can give the better it is.”
All of the money raised from this year's Festival of Trees is going towards local doctor recruitment.
She continued, “I look forward to this event every year. It's so nice and it brings everyone here to donate and to help.”
Kushnir said this year's Festival of Trees was one of the best. Although they had to downsize due to economy, they were pleased with the turnout and the bids made on trees.
“This year we made it smaller, so there was less to bid on, but that just meant the bids went higher,” Kushnir added. “It was slower in some (events), but overall it went really well.”
Although the festival itself downsized, the prizes for the raffles got even bigger, as a way of enticing people to purchase tickets. Their plan worked, with the 50/50 and wine tree tickets selling out before the end of the weekend.
Children could shop for their parents at Santa's Secret Shop, and were encouraged not to tell their mom or dad what they had purchased.
Kushnir explained they had a good showing for that as well, with kids excited to buy gifts for their parents.
“They are really proud of themselves when they buy something, and they just know their parents are not allowed to see it.”
Organizers expect to have the total amount raised from the Festival of Trees tallied up by mid-week.
