Festival of Trees celebrates love stories

Mark Ronald Wilson's time was painfully short. He was in his late teens when he died in an industrial accident.

But he managed to give others time he didn't have. Tuesday, during bid night for the Festival of Trees, his family was to meet the individual who received his liver. They planned to greet each other in front of "The Gift of Time" tree Wilson's family made in his honor — a tree festooned with oversized antique-look clock faces, a portrait of Wilson nearby.

That's the Festival of Trees: Hundreds of love stories told in branches and bows, bells and lights, gossamer angels and whimsical Santa faces. There are tales of sorely missed moms and dads, children and babies, and tales of survival and joy, of battles fought and often won, and tales of hope. Sometimes those stories mingle on the same tree.

Suzy Jordan's tree celebrates her friend Emily Austin, who, at 13, is again fighting leukemia. This summer, when Suzy wanted Emily's portrait, Emily said, "Let's do it now while I still have hair." The portrait shows a beautiful girl with thick dark hair and angel wings. The tree has little pillows stitched with snowmen and wooden harps.

Jamie Burnett honors her daughter, Alyssa, with a "Cheetos" tree, all orange and powdery — the treat the girl loved, everywhere. Born with spina bifida, at age 13 Alyssa was hurt when her wheelchair tipped off a curb. She later died.

The Festival boasts about 450 large trees, 200 small trees, ceramics, wreaths, candy and a gift boutique, among other things.

A group of children with autism made little gingerbread houses, while a Logan artist, Doug Fairbanks, spent seven years carving a massive wooden face of Jesus Christ surrounded by 365 carefully detailed carved trees.

When he was 12, Wes Robinson Jr. told his family he wanted to build a playhouse for the festival. They laughed. That was five years and four playhouses ago. This year, Robinson created a one-room log-and-stone house with lights. He took a class to learn how. The result is a glowing, cozy room with a fireplace and a tree, little lamps and lots of polished wood.

Nearby, there's a bedroom suite made by students at Beaver High School, where Robinson is student body president. More than 400 of them helped make furniture and accessories. Forty girls made the quilt, the metal working class made the lamps and 170 students decorated the tiny tiles for the picture in art class.