The Festival of Trees, historically a Chamber of Commerce event designed to raise money throughout the community for worthy causes, features trees and wreaths this year but also auction “bundles” of the type that will be the focus of the event in the future.  “This is what a lot of the Tree events are moving toward that I’ve seen,” Chamber of Commerce director Mandi Hess stated.  Traditionally, trees are either decorated by the chamber or organization sponsoring them, and then bid on by visitors in time to be used as trees in celebration of the holiday.  In some cases, bidders pledge money to support the underlying cause, but don’t necessarily need something on the scale of a fully decorated tree.  This is where auction bundles come in—bids are for items donated by the sponsors and themed to correspond to the business. 

This year’s sponsoring donors included: the Bell family, The Oneida Crisis Center, Nell J Redfield Memorial Hospital, Wildflower Salon, Pamela Harris, Gloria Maldonado, Malad Bag Lady (Mandi Hess), Just Kiddin Around (Kristi Christophersen), Malad Tumblers and Things, Team Anderson Woodworking, and ATC, as well as some donors who remained anonymous.

In addition to the auction items, the event featured the craft products of many local vendors.  The event gave people a chance to get an early start on Christmas shopping with local vendors and craftspeople, and was attended by Santas Claus on Saturday, who was on hand to visit with his admiring younger fans.  

Craft items included vanilla, handcrafted jewelry, soaps, Western style designer clothing, baby clothes, kitchen crafts, honey, Christmas décor, LulaRoe clothing, educational games, Wood and Metal Cut designs, drinks, food, and more.

The Chamber plans to expand the event next year, bringing in more auction items and vendors to the Event Center space for an even larger version of this year’s event, as the Chamber works to bring the festival back to its seasonal place of honor on the holiday calendar.

The trees for this year’s event were sponsored by the Oneida Crisis Center, and the Bell family in memory of Erik and Terra’s daughter Madalyn.  Wreaths were designed by Nell J Redfield.