Click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter

Festival of Trees to light up Maidstone for another year

Nov 17, 2016 | 11:31 AM

The annual Festival of Trees is coming back to Maidstone next week to brighten up the local hospital facility.

The festival is hosted by the Maidstone Red Hatters to raise money for the Maidstone Health Complex.

“Our group started the Festival of Trees for the beauty it brings to the community and the fundraising aspect was just a happy coincidence to start with,” member Candy Ormiston said. “It’s our way of giving back to the community.”

Christmas trees will decorate the facility and holiday items will be available for a silent auction from Monday, Nov. 21 to Nov. 26. There will also be live entertainment on the Thursday and Saturday. All proceeds go to the Maidstone Health Complex.

The festival raised more than $13,000 last year, which goes towards comfort items for patients, residents and staff at the facility. Ormiston said in the past, the money went toward purchasing a fireplace, gazebo, chairs and a new stretcher for the ambulance.

“It gives them comfort items that they wouldn’t normally have,” she said. “It not only helps the people that live and are in the hospital, it helps community members as well.”

The Maidstone chapter of the Red Hat Society, also known as the Royal Eccentric Dynamic Hatters, is a group for women over 50 to get together, have fun and contribute to local events and charities.

 

Sarah Rae is battlefordsNOW’s court and crime reporter. She can be reached at Sarah.Rae@jpbg.ca or tweet her @sarahjeanrae.