Saturday marked the 21st year of Moose Jaw’s Festival of Trees.
A community event, the Festival brings hundreds to the Heritage Inn for a night of themed celebration. The goal is to raise funds for Moose Jaw’s medical community while giving donors an opportunity to cut loose and enjoy an early dose of Christmas spirit.
This year, almost 450 people bought tickets for the Festival and more than $300,000 was raised for the purchase of new cardiac equipment — including a new blood test analyzer to assist with the 55,000 blood tests run by the hospital every year.
On top of the community’s stellar individual involvement, many Moose Jaw businesses and organizations participated in the Festival, providing items for auction, assembling displays, or assisting the event staff — led by Laurie Kosior — in other ways.
This year, displays featured everything from the standard Christmas lights to Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals, Coca-Cola decorations, and trees constructed out of full liquor bottles.
Spirits across the room were high, and ordinary Moose Javians had the opportunity to mix and mingle with everyone from Palliser MP Ray Boughen to members of the Snowbirds’s command staff.
The importance of events like these in a community like ours cannot be overstated.
Not only does the Festival enable the Moose Jaw Health Foundation to acquire new equipment that it needs to save lives, it also provides Moose Javians with an opportunity to celebrate their community in a jovial environment.
The Festival, in its own way, promotes co-operation, socialization and fraternization with our neighbours.
That’s something about which citizens of the Friendly City can and should feel proud.
All Times-Herald editorials are written by the editorial staff.
