Festival of Trees Celebrates 20 Years With Yet Another Successful Event

The Valley County Hope Project Festival of Trees 20th annual fundraising event was held Nov. 22, at the Elks Lodge. With a prime rib dinner served with mashed potatoes, glazed squash and finished with an upside down spiced pear cake with caramel topping for dessert, the meal was catered by Doris Ozark and donated by Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital. Those in attendance for the dinner were served by the Tampico Boys 4H Club and AgWest.

Throughout the previous week, and possibly longer depending on the vision and the intricacies of the donated pieces with their creators, various members of the community had the opportunity to put on their artistic caps and put together an item, whether it was a Christmas tree, centerpiece and/or wreath for the annual auction.

As has been tradition, Glasgow resident Lindsey Peterson once again hosted a Christmas Decor Demo at the Elks on Nov. 21, to get anyone started who needed inspiration and/or provide additional ideas to complete the look before the main event.

For this year's event, the Valley County Hope Project's committee raised the number of tickets available to be sold, from 100 to 130, and the event once again sold out. After the delicious dinner was enjoyed, a total of 55 items were auctioned off with Brian Austin as the auctioneer, and as a result of the community's generosity, a total of $18,150 was raised.

In addition to the event, Glasgow's Janice Lawrence made a quilt that was raffled off prior to the Festival of Trees event. Angela Stanley was the proud winner of the quilt and all funds from the raffle were donated to the HOPE Project.

"The Valley County HOPE Project is so appreciative to the organizations and individuals who have come alongside us, enabling us to carry out our vision and mission, not only for this event, but for all of our fundraisers throughout the year. We are sincerely grateful!," stressed Karla Zerve, a member of the Valley County HOPE Project Board.

The Festival of Trees was started in 2004 and has only continued to grow throughout the years. One thought by Joan Steffani and Phyllis Virkoski started it all when they came together and questioned why the event can't be done in Glasgow. Since then, the event brings locals together and kicks off the holiday season. The first year saw 10 to 15 trees donated and throughout the 20 years, there have been a variety of trees, wreaths and décor. Over the years of the event, there have been repeat creators, including Glasgow High School student Riley Evenson-Glasoe who has been designing a tree for at least six years, this year creating a Scottie Christmas theme tree.

HOPE stands for Helping Others Pay Expenses. The vision is that no person forgoes necessities because of financial constraints due to a crisis. The mission is to support residents of Valley County in crisis by helping to pay expenses as a result of a medical hardship. The organization is a 501c3 group and rely on fundraisers and individual donations from the community for their funding. As a result of the community's generosity, the HOPE Project has been able to assist families and averages $30,000 a year.

The HOPE Project will be hosting their next fundraiser, Night of Hope, in April at St. Raphael's.

To learn more about the HOPE Project, you can go to their Facebook page, Valley County HOPE Project, or visit their website, valleycountyhope.com, where you will find the application along with the guidelines. Applications can be picked up at Expressions, 235 4th St. S. You may also call, text or leave a message at 406-263-4673 or email [email protected].