Lac La Biche County residents were getting ready for Christmas at the annual Festival of Trees over the weekend.
Folks came to indulge in the various events that took place at the Bold Center from Nov. 22-24.
A spaghetti supper was held on Friday afternoon — before the crowds swooped into the event — and allowed seniors a first glimpse of the Christmas trees in the Devon Room that would soon be part of the 60,000 ticket raffle.
On Saturday, more community members, both young and old, came to bid on the Christmas trees that were being raffled off, and to take in the sights and sounds of the pre-Christmas buildup that included photos with Santa, Christmas carols, art displays and a home-grown vendors market.
Pat Boon-Anderson started the event nine years back with the help of Bev Moghrabi and Rosan Wilson.
The three originally wanted to help out children and their parents who had to fundraise to pay for certain trips.
"We thought, 'wouldn't it be cool if we could have one weekend where we would have such a huge event where if you worked it you could make your money that weekend,'" Boon-Anderson told the POST.
Wilson had initially seen the idea being done in Fort McMurray and decided to adopt the concept in Lac La Biche. The first year they held it inside a school gymnasium during a terrible blizzard making it a little challenging to get people to come. Since then they have moved the event into the Bold Center and have different members of the community join in with their own work.
Boon-Anderson says they encourage culture, art, music, and volunteer work through this event.
"This year to try something new we got buses to go out and bring out the seniors for Friday [sneakpeak]," she says.
The festival has grown tremendously since the first year and has been bringing in more revenue each year. The proceeds brought in by the Christmas tree raffle go to organizations that help children.
Raffle time
To participate in the tree raffles attendees bought up 60,000 printed raffle tickets. Once bought, bidders are asked to fill out their contact information on the back. Christmas boxes with slots at the top were set in front of each tree that participants can put their tickets into.
Who won the Trees???? Festival of Trees winners list from the F.O.T. folks... The lucky WINNERS are:
B Halter Automotive - Brielle Callioux
Bombshell Esthetics - Alexis MacDonald
Boston Pizza - Brett Skakun
Britton's Your Independent Grocer - Susan Warren
Calnash Trucking - Wendy Morrisseau
Canadian Natural Resources - Rose Brown
Chiplin Family - Carmela Green
Colin Cote/Certified Pool & Spa Services - Diana Petrowsky
Community Learning - Judy Jones
Cougar Fuels - Chantell Malbeuf
Craigend Rereation/Agricultural Society - Claudette Gladue
Edcon Power Tongs & Oilfield Services - Cathy Torresan
Enbridge - Miranda Germain
Farmer's Market, LLB Agricultural Society, Billy McDonald Rodeo Co. - Donna Cloutier
Fortis Alberta - Kristen Shewchuk
Generations Eye Care - Alyssa Bugle
Gladue G2 Cats - Patsy Cardinal
Highmark Mechanical - Claudette Madill
Hope Haven Society - Iona Wolstenholme
JMS Ltd - Nolan Nichols
Lakeland Interpretive Society/LLB Museum - Jayzannah Cardinel
1st Lac La Biche Girl Guides - Jasmine Paul
LLB 4-H- Cassidy Collins
Lac La Biche Art Club - Laramie McNaamara
Lac La Biche IGA - Kaitlyn Soroka
LLB District Natural Gas Coop - Camille Beyer
LLB Can Native Friendship Centre - Karen Pruden
LLB Firefighter's Society/Santa's Helpers - Megan Wainman
Lac La Biche Oilmen's Association - Joyce Walberg
LLB Modern Wears - Alex Ludwig
LLB Rec & Community Enhancement - Teneille Tarrant
LLB Sporting Goods - Joss Germain
Louis' Carwash Ltd - Dayna Gingras
Lucky Strike Bowling - Connie Richard
Northern Beat Dance AcademySTEP - John Salazar
Northern Beat Dance Academy - Amy Suhan
Piquette Ins Serv/Cooperators - Don Sarafinchan
Plamondon Co-op - Shelda Bolt
Plamondon Community Quilters - Carrie Heppner
R & R Creative Interiors- Rubylyn Mountain
Razorback Contracting - Shauna St Louis
Reminiscence - Logan Shannon
St. Catherine's Parish - Bernadette Kaufman
Servus Credit Union - Chenee Seifert
Shear FX - Ma. Eunice Carlos
SMR Diesel Trucks & Savailin Welding - Cathy Torresan
Squirrel's Fas Gas - Darlene Cardinal
Stewart Sales & Rentals - Jason Hebert
Stromquist Design - Rayanne Blood
Sunshine Promotions/Kingdom Cats - Lorna Delorme
Tarrabain Motors - Anita Lindberg
Ted's Automotive - Travis Yackimec
The Print Shop - Myles Lavallee
Venture Home Hardware - Kim Poitras
Victim Services - Matasin Bliss
Artistic accents
Darleen Coy is one of the many local artists who had a table set up to showcase their work. Her table consists of decorative dip-dyed macrame pieces that were inspired by the "hippie era" as she puts it.
She's been making her art for the last 40 years and is excited that it's back in style.
Another artist is Ken Whitehouse who specializes in woodwork. His table consists of beautifully handcrafted pens, puzzle pieces, and jewellery boxes.
"I have been doing woodwork since I was eight years old, and I've been making the pens for almost ten years now," says Whitehouse.
His love for his craft because when he used to make toys for the Red Cross back in the day.
"I use to take pictures of the colouring books and copy them cut them out on wood, and we'd give them to the Red Cross," he says.
In the coming weeks, organizers will be divvying up the proceeds from the busy weekend. In past years, local clubs and groups have received tens of thousands of dollars in funding support from the Festival of Trees weekend.
