PORT ANGELES — The final day of the Festival of Trees was a busy one as visitors descended on the Vern Burton Community Center on Sunday for Family Days.
While Saturday’s snowfall kept some people from visiting the 61 Christmas trees displayed at the Vern Burton center, a stream of visitors walked through the main floor Sunday to see the trees, hear live music performances and see the Lower Elwha Klallam tribal dancers.
“Snow killed us a bit on Saturday,” said Cookie Kalfur, coordinator for the Port Angeles Exchange Club’s Family Days.
However, with better road conditions Sunday, attendance was rebounding, Kalfur said.
“We’ve had a steady flow all day,” she said.
The club receives the funds raised during the final two days of the festival.
In the children’s area, students from the Port Angeles High School wrestling and softball teams and the NJROTC unit helped children write and send letters to Santa Claus, painted faces and fingernails, helped make snowflake decorations and twisted balloons into hats and animals.
The theme for the 24th annual Festival of Trees was “Polar Express,” based on the 1985 children’s holiday book by Chris Van Allsburg, and the official title of the 2014 Festival of Trees was “Believe,” the book’s message for embracing the magic of the Christmas season.
“I love it. It’s magical,” said Port Angeles resident Kim Luker, 43, who visited the festival with her husband, Matt Luker, 41, and their daughter, Bekah, 5.
The Luker family admired the trees, leading their daughter under the twinkling lights and through the forest of glittering Christmas trees.
The Port Angeles Exchange Club receives the proceeds from Family Days — typically from $10,000 to $12,000.
However, the low turnout means the income from the event will likely be lower this year, Kalfur said.
As of Sunday afternoon, attendance figures were not yet available, but considerably fewer visitors than previous years were seen, she said.
At the end of the festival on Sunday, the trees were to be boxed up and shipped to those who purchased them at the Festival of Trees auction Friday.
The Festival of Trees gala dinner and auction raised $121,600 for the Olympic Medical Center Foundation and the Port Angeles Exchange Club, foundation Executive Director Bruce Skinner said.
More than 500 attended the gala, including guests and volunteers, which Skinner said was the largest attendance in the Festival of Trees history.
The OMC Foundation will use the money raised at the gala to pay for medical equipment and advanced training for health care providers.
The net total was derived from $200,600 in gross revenue minus an estimated $79,000 in expenses.
Last year’s gala raised $93,000 for the foundation.
Each tree in the auction had a listed sponsor, designer and helpers.
The top bid for any tree was $5,000, for “Fifty Years of the Mustang,” which celebrates the loyalty of Ford Mustang fans, was sponsored by Irwin Dental Center, designed by Sherry Phillips and helped by “Reliable Bob.”
The premium for the white tree with red and black Mustang decorations was a blue and gold 1977 Ford Mustang donated by Patricia Engbretson.
The blue-and-gold Mustang was described at the festival as being in “almost perfect condition” with 49,325 miles on its six-cylinder, 2.8-liter engine.
Other trees’ premiums included vacations to foreign resorts, trips to destinations closer to home and sports memorabilia.
The second-highest-grossing tree at the auction was “A Highland Christmas,” sponsored by Irwin Dental Center and Bruce and Kathy Skinner, drew $3,750. It came with a trip to Scotland.
Two bids tied for the third highest for trees — $3,500 — a tie between the “Believe” tree, sponsored by the Peninsula Daily News; “Bertie’s Christmas,” sponsored by Sunset Do it Best Hardware; and “A Time of Splendor,” sponsored by Wilder Auto Center.
“It’s the Real Thing,” a Coca-Cola tree sponsored by Sound Community Bank, and “The Emerald City: The 75th Anniversary of the Wizard of Oz,” sponsored by Applebee’s, tied for designer’s choice.
The Festival of Trees also included an all-class reunion and basketball tournament held at the high school Saturday, followed by an all-class Port Angeles High School reunion dance and auction held Saturday night at the Vern Burton Center.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
