BARRHEAD – The annual Barrhead and District Chamber of Commerce’s Festival of Trees returned in a big way on Nov. 26, raising approximately $44,000 for local charities and non-profit organizations.
Hosted inside the Barrhead Elementary School (BES) gymnasium, the Barrhead Festival of Trees consisted of a dinner, live and silent auction, and a performance by the Dueling Pianos.
Chamber of Commerce president Michelle Rau said tickets completely sold out for the event, and indeed, the gymnasium was absolutely packed with 325 attendees.
“It was excellent,” she said. “They really wanted a live event, so I’m glad we were able to make it happen.”
The walls of the BES were lined with both live and silent auction items donated by local businesses and other organizations like the two Barrhead municipalities.
However, there were a couple of last-minute donations of live auction items, including a fishing trip that generated the highest bid of the evening — $3,000.
Most of the other live auction items went for between $1,000 to $1,200, Rau noted.
Those bidding on live auction items had a choice of roughly 12 charities they could donate their money to, including the Barrhead Agricultural Society; Family and Community Support Services; the Tree of Hope; the Barrhead Pregnancy Centre; 4-H clubs; Klondike Trail Search and Rescue; Barrhead Elementary School; the Ripple Connection; the Rotary Club; the Barrhead Animal Rescue Society; and the Blue Heron Support Services Association.
Rau noted the money from silent auction items was divided up amongst the groups that received the least donations from the live auction.
“We want to make sure that everybody gets something,” she added.
Incidentally, the $44,000 raised through the event represented the total amount of money donated through the live and silent auction.
While the Chamber of Commerce didn’t have a fundraising goal for the event, given that it’s been a couple of years since the Festival of Trees was held in-person, Rau said they definitely raised more money than they thought they would.
“We live in a very generous community,” she said. “We raised a lot of money for very good causes.”
In addition to the various businesses and groups donating items, Rau said she wished to give a big thank-you to all the volunteers who helped make the Festival of Trees happen.
The Festival of Trees has been held for over a decade now, as it began in 2010 when Cheryl Morris had the idea of having community members decorate Christmas trees and wreaths with the intent of auctioning them off in order to donate to local charities and not-for-profit organizations.
The event has always been held in-person except during the COVID years, when it shifted to a virtual format.
While the COVID-19 pandemic showed that one cannot predict how the future will go, Rau indicated the Festival of Trees will definitely return in a live format next year if circumstances allow.
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