Festival of Trees a surprise success

Last weekend's 38th annual Festival of Trees didn't sell all of its available decorated trees, but the event was an unexpected success anyway, with record attendance.

"Our attendance was up by 10,000 people," said Sharon Goodrich, director of Primary Children's Medical Center Foundation.

She said almost 90,000 people attended the four-day event at the South Towne Expo Center. The foundation was expecting a low turnout and was pleasantly surprised by the record numbers.

She said 20 of the 800 trees didn't sell, but that was OK, because the overall event was so successful.

The unsold trees are taken to Primary Children's Medical Center and used as decorations to brighten the lives of the patients and staff members.

"They don't go to waste," Goodrich said.

All of the trees sold in the past few years, but this year had one of the highest-ever numbers of total trees available for purchase.

Goodrich didn't want to blame the unsold trees on the lagging economy.

"We were full," Goodrich said, explaining there was no room at the Expo Center for more trees during the event. "We are grateful for the support our community offered."

The trees are decorated and donated by individuals, families, businesses, church groups and community organizations.

The festival is organized by an 84-member volunteer board, which works throughout the year to orchestrate the four-day event.

Every penny raised by the Festival of Trees goes directly to help children at Primary Children's Medical Center.

E-mail: lynn@desnews.com