NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, Nov. 27.
PORT ANGELES — Of the 58 decorated trees at the 25th annual Festival of Trees this weekend in the Vern Burton Community Center, one is a bucket list.
Crickett Rickenbacher, life enrichment coordinator at Laurel Place Assisted Living, created a Bucket of Dreams tree for the residents and employees at the home.
It will be on display at the Festival of Trees at the center at 308 E. Fourth St.
Festival events begin today and continue through Sunday.
For the tree, residents and employees collected items to represent items on their bucket lists, either wishes already accomplished or things they want to do in the future.
“You can’t tell the difference by reading the list if the person is 18 or 80,” Rickenbacher said.
One of the items, a shot glass with waves, represents a resident who will be 100 years old in April — and who wants a shot of whiskey and to swim in the ocean, Rickenbacher said.
Other wishes include desires to visit the Oregon Beaver Hall of Fame, make one last tour of an archaeological site, drive a very fast car, ride a camel in Egypt and dance in the Trianon Ballroom in Seattle, Rickenbacher added.
“They don’t stop living just because their bodies get old,” she said.
Special gifts
Each of the trees that will be auctioned off tonight come with premiums, special gifts that usually correspond with the tree’s theme.
The forest of trees decorated in holiday lights and ornaments will be auctioned off at the Festival of Trees Gala tonight and will be available for public viewing Saturday and Sunday.
This year’s theme for the festival is “The Nutcracker,” based on the ballet by Peter Tchaikovsky.
The annual fundraiser benefits the Olympic Medical Center Foundation and the Port Angeles Exchange Club.
The 2015 trees are among the best that have ever been created for the annual festival, said Bruce Skinner, executive director of the Olympic Medical Center Foundation.
“Designers are what make these trees what they are,” Skinner said.
Tickets available
At least a few tickets were still available Wednesday for each of Festival of Trees events, Skinner said.
Here is what’s in store this weekend:
■ Teddy Bear Teas — The celebration begins today with the Teddy Bear Teas, with two sessions for parents and children to have holiday tea among the forest of trees and wreaths.
The first is at 10 a.m. and the second is at noon today.
Tickets are $10 per person.
■ Festival of Trees Gala — At 5:30 tonight, trees and evening gowns will glitter at the Festival of Trees Gala, with a buffet dinner, tree auction, silent auction and dancing with music.
Entry to the gala and auction is $100 per person.
■ Family Days — From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, festival doors will be open for the public to view the decorated trees and wreaths.
Musical entertainment and children’s activity areas will be offered.
Entry is $5 for adults, with children ages 8 and younger admitted free.
The Port Angeles Exchange Club receives the proceeds from Family Days.
■ Family Days Breakfast — At 8:30 a.m. Saturday there will be a sit-down breakfast in the festival forest of trees.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for children. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door.
At the end of the festival on Sunday, the trees will be readied to be delivered to those who purchased them at the Festival of Trees auction.
The 2014 Festival of Trees gala dinner and auction raised $121,600 for the Olympic Medical Center Foundation and the Port Angeles Exchange Club.
More than 500 attended that 2014 gala, including guests and volunteers — 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.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call 360-417-7144 or go to the Olympic Medical Center Foundation Office at 1015 Georgianna St.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
