Tree Parties Fund-Raisers Return With A Sleigh Full Of Christmas Fun
Michael Gilligan is a man with class, and Bill Jeckle and Greg Hagen are a couple of guys who dream big - and then want to live out their fantasy. All three decorated theme trees for Christmas Tree Elegance 1997, sponsored by the Spokane Symphony Associates as a fund-raiser for the Spokane Symphony Orchestra.
The annual event will be at Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park Sunday through Dec. 5.
Two other big annual Christmas tree fund-raisers are:
The Festival of Trees, sponsored by the Spokane Valley Rotary at the DoubleTree Hotel in the Valley Thursday through Dec. 8.
The Kootenai Medical Center Foundation’s Festival of Trees, at The Coeur d’Alene Resort today through Monday.
Gilligan, a manager of the new Eddie Bauer store in downtown Spokane, latched onto the “natural idea” of using golf as the theme for his tree since golf is such a popular sport in Spokane.
But he couldn’t envision a tree decorated with golf balls and tees. The event is named Christmas Tree Elegance, after all.
“I tried to get into the mind of the person who is going to win this,” Gilligan said. No one would be thrilled with a tree festooned with cutesy golf paraphernalia.
So, Gilligan’s first go at decorating a symphony tree will live up to its name - elegance.
Crystal ornaments and Celtic crosses will hang on the tree branches. Scottish heather and ivy will accent plaid ribbons that spiral down the tree, which will be lighted with white “candles.”
And golf?
Under the tree will be all the toys any golfer could possibly need to enjoy a $3,000 trip for two to Scotland: travel bags, golf bags - and, of course, clothing from Eddie Bauer.
Scotland is where the game of golf was born, and most every golfer would consider a trip there to be a dream come true.
Bill Jeckle and Greg Hagen are hoping their dream tree will come true - for them.
“We were out having a couple of beers one night, thinking about what would be a good idea and a lot of fun” for a theme tree, Jeckle said.
It had to appeal to single people (like the bachelors they are) and to couples with children.
There’s much talk these days of having a change of attitude. Hagen came up with a play on those words, changing them to “Changes in Latitude” for their theme tree - a trip for four aboard a yacht, complete with a crew, in the British Virgin Islands. Two couples, or one couple and two kids.
Jeckle likes the idea so much, “I’m hoping to death that I win,” he said. He’ll buy 100 tickets to help his odds.
He’s already won one tree - a “Black Tie Affair,” which gave him a trip to Monte Carlo a few years ago.
“But I would have preferred a trip like this,” he said of his Caribbean dream.
Other trips are included in the theme trees this year:
“Vive La France” will provide a trip for two to Paris for soccer’s 1998 Coupe de Monde World Cup.
“Little Angels” is a family trip for four to Disneyland.
” ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” is a ski trip to Breckenridge, Colo.
“Adventures Unlimited” includes rafting trips down the Salmon and Snake rivers.
“Railing the Rockies” is a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, and a train ride through the Rockies to Banff and Calgary.
“That’s Entertainment” is a trip for two to New York City, plus Broadway entertainment in Spokane.
And new this year is the “Totally Teen Tree,” with totally awesome snowboarding, mountain biking, net surfing and more.
Raffle tickets are $1.
Another raffle during Christmas Tree Elegance will be for the first edition of Dorothy Fowler’s bronze sculpture “Child of Dolphin.” Only 500 raffle tickets ($25 each) will be sold, upping the odds of winning.
A Preview of Trees will be from noon to 8 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday with non-stop entertainment planned. Admission is $2.50 for adults and free for children. Monday is reserved for a quiet day to view the trees with no admission fee.
Spirit of Christmas gift tables, laden with holiday wreaths and gifts to buy, will be available each day. (You can have fun, support a worthy cause - and Christmas shop, giving a deeper meaning to one-stop shopping.)
Luncheons and style shows will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Dec. 5; doors open at 10. Tickets are $30.
From 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday will be the cocktail party, “Taste of Elegance,” featuring the blues band Too Slim and the Taildraggers. Tickets are $35.
The Dinner Dance Gala begins with a champagne reception at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5. Dancing follows to Men in the Making. Tickets are $100. The raffle drawing will be held on this night.
Reservations are required for each event, except for Preview of Trees. Call 326-3136.
Thursday is the Valley’s Festival of Trees, with an opening night party from 6:30 to 10 p.m. in the DoubleTree Hotel. Admission is $30.
It will be an evening of elegance with cocktails and an hors d’oeuvres buffet, said Linda Rust, spokeswoman. It’s also the first time the trees will be on display. A diamond necklace, centerpieces and gift certificates will be offered at silent and oral auctions that night; there will also be raffle trees and a Holiday Boutique. Raffle tickets are $1.
The trees will again be available for viewing from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, in the hotel. There will be activities for the kids and a no-host continental breakfast. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children (2 and younger, free).
There will also be entertainment, including the University High School Flute Ensemble, clowns, “ballonnians,” piano music, the Strolling Strings from East Valley High School and the Spokane Valley Adventist School Handbell Ringers.
On Monday, Dec. 8, two fashion shows are scheduled: from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with lunch ($27), and from 5 to 8 p.m. for “the after-work crowd,” with a pasta bar and no-host cocktail ($25). The drawing will be that night.
For reservations to the fashion shows or opening party, call 444-0426.
The Spokane Valley Rotary is sponsoring the event as a fund-raiser for the Valley Center of Sharing, “Hugs to Health” Sick Day Care at the Valley Hospital and Medical Center, the new Valley Senior Center and the Universally Accessible Park at Mirabeau Point.
Meanwhile, in Coeur d’Alene this weekend is the Kootenai Medical Center Foundation’s Festival of Trees.
This is the place to absorb the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas.
Forty decorated trees - full-sized and miniature - boughs, ornaments and tables of arts and crafts by 16 area artisans will consume the entire lobby area of The Coeur d’Alene Resort. There’s even an Avenue of Wreaths, said Mike Regan, festival spokesman.
Events start at 5:30 p.m. today, “on the heels of the city’s holiday parade” and the resort’s Festival of Lights, Regan said. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children.
“This is a huge community event,” Regan said.
And popular.
Tickets to the Saturday night gala sold out in less than a week, and the fashion show tickets were gone the first day, Regan said.
But there’s still lots to do for residents and visitors alike.
The Senior Social’s brunch from 10 a.m. to noon today will feature a brunch with such entertainment as “A Crazy Christmas Carol” by the Red Hot Mammas, as well as the Lake City Harmonizers, Still Kickin’ Cloggers and Boot Scootin’ Senior Line Dancers. Admission is $3.
Family Day, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, will feature handicrafts, face-painting, clowns and non-stop entertainment, including the Coeur d’Alene Jazz, Lake City High School Choir, the Betty Kiefer Elementary Choir and the Borah Ambassadors. The Fernan 21st Street Singers will be there, along with choruses from Bryan Ramsey, Hayden and Winton schools, and the Northwest Academy of Music. Tickets are $1.
Except for a small portion of the 40 decorated trees tagged for the auction, the rest are available for the public to buy. They “usually vary in the neighborhood of $350 to $800,” Regan said.
Auctioning the trees during the Dinner Gala is traditionally a “spirited time,” Regan said, with some trees bringing in $4,000.
The festival has raised $608,000 since it began eight years ago. Proceeds this year will be used to buy a centralized fetal monitoring system for the hospital’s soon-to-be remodeled obstetrics department, and a Transitional Care Unit for terminally ill patients who are not sick enough to be hospitalized, yet too ill to comfortably stay at home.
The festival’s funds will help ensure “a safe arrival into the world (with the fetal monitoring system) and a safe passage from the world (with the transitional care unit),” Regan said.
For more information about the event, call (208) 666-8733.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Staff illustration by Bridget Sawicki