On Saturday, Nov. 28, the public was invited to participate in the second Hospice of St. Mary’s Festival of Trees. The event, in only its second year, grew considerably over the inaugural festival.
“Last year we had only 13 tree, but his year we had 22 trees,” said Kathryn Franzen, director of Hospice. “The other counties have multiday events, but we will keep building ours from here.”
The Festival Trees solicits sponsors for beautifully decorated trees that they can either keep, put up for auction or donate to other agencies. For instance, PNC Bank’s three trees were donated to the Three Oaks Center in Lexington Park. Other sponsors put tree up for auction and the rest were delivered to wherever the sponsors designated.
This year’s festival raised more than the event a year ago, but the amount raised has not been finalized. According to Franzen, some 150 to 200 people came to the event. “We definitely raised more than we did last year.”
Franzen wanted to make sure that recognition was given to Hospice’s main sponsors such as Wyle Conference Center that allowed the organization to hold the festival without cost and Guy Distributing that provided a beer truck to move Christmas trees around the county.
For more information about the Festival of Trees and other Hospice programs and services, contact Hospice of St. Mary’s at (301) 994-3023.
