KidSport Cowichan has received a big boost from the organizers of the Chemainus Gardens Festival of Trees.
This year’s Chemainus Gardens Festival of Trees raised more than $2,200 for KidSport Cowichan, a volunteer-managed charity that provides grants for children to participate in a season of sport. The charity serves children throughout the entire Cowichan Valley, from Mill Bay to North Oyster. Funds raised locally are spent locally and are distributed as grants covering registration fees associated with playing organized sports.
Festival of Trees co-ordinator Margaret Perry was happy with the festival, which supported KidSport for the first time this year and had a new format that saw the trees that were decorated by sponsors displayed in those sponsors’ businesses.
“Those who visited the trees and came to the Info Centre were impressed with the creativity of the decorated trees and the quality and variety of the donated auction items,” she said.
Perry gave special thanks to Daphne Carlyle, who judged the trees; Susan Martin, who judged the poetry competition; Connemara for the certificates and paperwork; and to Future Shop for donating the prizes for the poetry winners.
Katia Bannister from Thetis Island Elementary School and Bianca Steele from Chemainus Elementary School were the big winners in the poetry competition.
The tree at Dayliner Club Car Café won First Place in the Christmas tree judging and was also chosen as People’s Choice. Second Place went to the trees at 49th Parallel Grocery and Christmas in Chemainus.
This was the fourth year for the Festival of Trees, and it had a new format. Instead of all 10 trees being displayed at Chemainus Gardens like in the past, the trees were set up inside the sponsors’ businesses. People then picked up passports and went around to each business to get a stamp and vote on their favourite tree.
The Festival of Trees began Dec. 5 and featured opportunities to make donations to KidSport Cowichan, bid on silent auction items and enter a draw for prizes donated by merchants.
