NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, Nov. 28.
PORT ANGELES — The Vern Burton Community Center will be a forest of fantasy, a train trip through a holiday wonderland.
This year’s “Polar Express”-themed Festival of Trees — officially titled “Believe” — begins with a gala dinner and auction tonight, then opens to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the center at 308 E. Fourth St.
Admission to Family Days — which includes musical entertainers, a puppet show, crafts, games, photos with Santa and a raffle — is $5 at the door. Children 8 or younger are free.
Some trees are dressed up as formal gowns ready for the winter ball, while others are festooned with cars or garlanded with birdseed ornaments, forest birds and woodland critters.
One created by metalworking students at Peninsula College is a graceful metal tree sculpture.
The students also created portions of an Eiffel Tower tree.
“They were really thinking out of the box,” said Sherry Phillips, chair of the Festival of Trees Design Committee.
“It’s fantastic. We have some of the best trees we have ever had.”
Today’s special ticketed events — including the Teddy Bear Teas at 10 a.m. and noon, and the Festival of Trees Gala at 5:30 p.m. — and Saturday’s Family Days Breakfast have been sold out, Phillips said.
All-class reunion
“Home for the Holidays,” an all-class Port Angeles High School reunion dance and auction, will be at
7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
Preceding the reunion is a basketball tournament at Port Angeles High, 304 E. Park Ave., that will begin at about 9 a.m.
The trees will be auctioned at tonight’s gala.
Each tree comes with premiums.
These include a 1977 Ford Mustang car and trips to Africa and Scotland.
The gala, which was $95 per ticket, includes a buffet dinner, silent auction and dancing with live music.
Now in its 24th year, Festival of Trees is a three-day fundraiser for the Olympic Medical Center Foundation and Port Angeles Exchange Club.
Thousands of dollars worth of medical equipment for OMC has been purchased by funds raised during the festival, Phillips said.
“That’s what we’re really here for,” she noted.
The trees are designed by volunteers and sponsored by local businesses and individuals.
From the Rainier tree — designed for both the mountain and the beer — to teddy bears, there are a wide variety of designs, but they all have one unusual trait:
They are all solidly built, with ornaments and ribbons secured to the trees themselves.
On Wednesday, workers tipped a tree over to place it on a pedestal, the designers anxiously hovering behind.
‘The real test’
“That’s the real test,” Phillips said, noting that she walks away when trees are tipped to not have to watch if anything comes loose.
When the festival is over, the trees are shipped to their new owners — those who have successfully bid for them during tonight’s gala and auction.
There are many new designers this year, and there have already been requests for a spot next year, Phillips said.
At 61 trees, the festival is as big as it’s going to get because of the space limitations inside of the Vern Burton center, she said.
During tonight’s gala and live auction, 36 trees will be sold.
Twelve additional trees will be raffled and won in a silent auction at the gala.
Two will be raffled at the Teddy Bear teas, five will be raffled at the all-class Port Angeles High reunion and six are being sponsored by First Federal, which will buy them, Skinner said.
For more information, visit www.omhf.org.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsula
dailynews.com.
