Festival of Trees opens today

It’s volunteers like Shirley Facha who make the annual Fry Healthcare Foundation Festival of Trees a success.

A floral designer for 25 years, Facha made three large centerpieces for the festival’s Gala Auction Dinner & Dance on Saturday, Dec. 13. She also made 12 centerpieces for tables, which will be sold for $60 each, and the grand entry garland.

“Shirley is an incredible person,” festival director Lillie Blackwell. “She’s not only a floral designer, she’s an artist. She’s just a creative person.”

For Facha, it’s a creative outlet.

“I love doing stuff like that,” said the owner Shirley Ann’s Flowers & Gifts and Country Wood and Wildflower.

The three-day Festival of Trees opens today with Community Night from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Anyone who donates a canned good, gets in free. Canned goods will go for the Ministerial Association’s Christmas food baskets.

The evening will include refreshments and performances by Bonners Ferry Children’s Choir, Bonners Ferry High School Band, the Tanner Family, and choirs from the Baptist and Mt. Hall churches.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, three will be free admission for senior citizens. Entertainment includes the Cub Scouts, and a sing-a-long with Dean Miller and Doris Howard and Friends.

Family Night runs from 5:30 to 9:30. Admission is $3 for adults, $1 for children, or $8 for a family. The evening will include a visit from Santa, Santa’s Workshop for children, face painting and photos with Santa.

Entertainment will include Bonners Ferry Dance Studio, Jeannie Robinson, and John Hill and The Day Off Band.

Doors for The Gala Auction Dinner and Dance open at 5 p.m. for viewing and a no-host social hour. A buffet dinner served by Jill’s Cafe at 6 p.m. and the auction begins at 7. Matthew and Cindy Horton will provide music and a dance with disc jockey, the Rocking A’s, will follow the auction. Tickets for the evening are $30 and $35 at the door, and available at Boardwalk Boutique, Tucked Away and The Gift Gallery.

Primary sponsors for the gala are Everhart Logging & Road Building, Riverside Auto Center, Tim Wilson Law Firm and Boundary Abstract Co.

This year’s festival is expected to feature 14 decorated trees, of which seven are live trees. The smaller artificial trees are expected to sell for $300 to $500 during the auction, while larger should fetch from $500 to $800. Fresh trees normally get $800 to $1,000.

The auction also will feature 10 wreathes, 14 baskets and seven gift-filled stockings.

The festival committee hopes to raise $30,000. About $,7500 would be spent for equipment for upgrading the pediatric rehabilitated department at Boundary Community Hospital. Additional proceeds would be used to renovate a building owned by the hospital for a classroom for certified nursing assistants and an office for Fry Healthcare Foundation, which raises money for the hospital.