The seventh annual Barrhead Festival of Trees was well attended and successful says Dave Sawatzky, president of the Barrhead &District Chamber of Commerce.
“The amount of pride and effort put into all of the creative displays was clearly evident,” he said, adding he was impressed by all of the entries.
Due to fire regulations, festival organizers were not able to seat as many people as last year — 350, down from 450 in 2015, but Sawatzky said it was a sold-out night.
“This time around was the earliest we’ve ever been sold out too and I can’t say enough about the committee and all of their hard work. They all did a fantastic job and the community really stepped up all around.”
He said it was nice to see the funds raised shared between charities such as the Barrhead Family and Children Support Services (FCSS), Barrhead Animal Rescue Service (BARS) and others.
“The pool is important but this time of year, family and Christmas really takes priority over everything else and for the charities that rely on this type of funding to provide services in our community, it was really nice to see.”
Event organizer Kristine Bryant agreed.
“Given the economic times and the difficult harvest that our farmers experienced this year, I would consider the $30,917.40 raised a huge success,” Bryant said, adding she has heard only positive reviews.
“Our local non-profit organizations are thankful for this event each year to keep those donations local and it truly makes a difference for the citizens of our community. Everyone really enjoyed themselves. There was a mixture of new ticket buyers and returning buyers and the overall comments I’ve received is how fantastic the entire event was.”
Commentary received from community residents included amazement at having a legend like Mike MacDonald come to Barrhead, she said.
“There were many laughs to he heard throughout the performance and I can’t thank all of the volunteers enough for creating another successful event. There are about 30 volunteers that run the two day event between the gala and the market, and only five people on the committee to make it all happen.”
Barrhead Fire chief John Whittaker agreed and mayor Gerry St. Pierre agreed.
“Everyone had a great time and we raised a lot of money,” Whittaker said, adding MacDonald managed to make almost everyone crack a smile.
“I was blown away by the whole evening. A big name like Mike in Barrhead? You can tell a pro when you see and hear one and he was great.”
“The festival of trees again proved to be one of the premier events in our community and the generosity of our residents, and businesses, continues to acknowledge the strong community spirit Barrhead has,” St. Pierre said.
As far as next year goes, Bryant said the committee is excited to start the planning process in the coming weeks and hopes to keep the momentum for the event going.
“The community has strong support for it and we are excited to see what kinds of ideas we can garner for 2017,” she said.
