Celebrate the season

Here is our annual listing of some of our favorite holiday festivities, many of which help support worthy causes.

Festival of Trees

What: Fund-raiser that benefits needy children at Primary Children's Medical Center.

Where: South Towne Expo Center, 9575 S. State

When: Dec. 1-4, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

How much: $4, adults; $2.50 children 2-11; $2.50 senior citizens; discount tickets available in advance at Zions Banks; family tickets $13, good only on Wednesday

Web: www.thechildfirstandalways.com

This year marks the 13th time Linda Meier has decorated a tree for the Festival of Trees.

It's an act of devotion she can't quite explain, an annual memorial to her daughter, Nicole, who died at the age of 11 1/2 from an aggressive form of sarcoma.

Primary Children's Medical Center treated Nicole, who wasn't expected to live more than a month after the diagnosis. "She rallied and hung on and did wonderfully well," said Meier. "She went into remission for about two years, but then it came back."

Nicole spent a lot of time at Primary. "They were so good to her," said Meier. "Nicole thought of it as her second home."

Going to the festival had long been a Meier family tradition. But the year before Nicole died, she noticed pictures of children on some of the trees. "She asked me if we could do a tree. I told her it was too late for that year, but I promised her we would do a tree the next year," said Meier.

Nicole died the following November. The next year another tradition took hold in the Meier family: decorating a tree for the festival.

"She was an amazing child, and I feel this is a way of preserving her memory," said Meier.

It's also a way of giving back. At the time, Meier's husband was unemployed for about a year. "We were beneficiaries of donated dollars," she said. By contributing to the festival, she feels she is paying back a little of what Primary had given to them.

And now the tradition is helping Meier, herself, who was diagnosed with MS a few years ago. "It's therapeutic for my physically," she said. "I will do a tree until I can't do one anymore."

Over the years the theme of Meier's trees has varied widely. Once, with a bit of whimsy, she did a rustic tree inspired by imitation antlers she found in a store.