Valley Rotary Club Branches Out To Save Annual ‘Festival Of Trees’
This yuletide season, members of the Spokane Valley Rotary Club will be singing, “O Christmas Tree.”
The Valley Rotary board of directors has decided to take over the Valley’s annual “Festival of Trees” from the Valley Hospital Foundation.
“It’s a gamble,” says Norma Ventris, a six-year member of Valley Rotary and a 10-year Festival of Trees volunteer. “We’re going to see if it works. It’s very labor intensive and we may find that it is too much so.”
She said the hospital foundation decided to discontinue sponsorship of the Christmastime event earlier this year after profits slipped.
“They felt that interest was waning,” said Ventris, a former member of the hospital foundation.
“Expenses were high and profits were not good.”
At its peak in 1994, the event brought in about $80,000, she said. Last year it netted only $30,000. Valley Rotary picked up the event because it wanted to be involved with a unique fundraising event. It’s also important to the community, said Jim Williams, president of the club.
“There is a gamble involved, but we think it’s minimal,” Williams said. “We have very few Valley traditions and we don’t want to lose any of those.”
Valley Rotary has a strong core of 100 volunteers, which Williams says will combine with the volunteers from last year’s event.
The Festival of Trees is a fundraising event which benefits local charities. Decorated Christmas trees are sponsored by Valley businesses, then auctioned off at a special event.
The Rotary Club will do away with the fancy dinner/dance, previously held by the foundation. Instead, a more economically feasible event will be planned for the auction of the trees.
No specific days or times have been set, but most of the events will take place the week of Dec. 4.
Santa Claus will have breakfast with Valley children at the Spokane Valley Mall, and the trees will be displayed at the Valley Doubletree.
During its 10-year history, the Festival of Trees has raised nearly $500,000 in donations for local charities.
, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Volunteers needed The Spokane Valley Rotary Club is seeking volunteers for the 1997 “Festival Of Trees,” to be held in December at the Spokane Valley Doubletree Hotel. For more information, contact Jim Williams at 928-2413.