One tree, two tree, Christmas tree.
The annual Festival of Trees gala was a holiday success for the Border City and saw a packed house at the Gold Horse Casino on Nov. 20.
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The event is the premier fundraiser for the Friends of Weaver Heritage Park.
“We have a live auction of our eight trees and a silent auction. We have lots of great food and the theme this year is holiday movies,” said event organizer Gwen Mottram.
The movies highlighted through the decorated trees were, The Grinch, It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, Frosty the Snowman, The Polar Express, The Nutcracker, White Christmas and Die Hard.
The authenticity of Die Hard as a Christmas movie was up for debate, even with an eloquently-decorated tree.
“The Die Hard tree is debatable as to whether it’s a holiday movie or not,” she said with a chuckle.
Funds from the event support projects at Weaver Heritage Park. Mottram, who’s a member of the non-profit, says they’re already eyeing some projects at the park.
“We’ve got a couple of projects we’re looking at next week and then one of the bigger ones we hope to get started on is the restoration of Rendell Barn,” she said.
“Rendell Barn is a gorgeous structure we hope we can make into a classroom for schools that want to come. It’ll be another space where the museum and park can do programming. We’re looking at using it for a Farm to Table event.
“It’ll be a multi-purpose space.”
The Festival of Trees has garnered additional support since moving to the Gold Horse Casino.
“Since we moved to the Gold Horse Casino, our attendance has increased,” said Mottram. “Ticket sales have been really good, great community support, the sponsors of the event have been wonderful.”
The evening also featured entertainment from the likes of Daryl Amundrud and xCentricity.
“We have entertainment tonight, we’re featuring Daryl Amundrud and a band called xCentricity,” said Mottram.
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