The entire community is invited to experience the magic of Christmas at the annual Festival of Trees and All Things Christmas going on this weekend at the North Bay Museum.
There are silent auction bids on 18 uniquely decorated Christmas trees along with wreaths for a total of 100 auction items.
“People are welcome to view the wonderful Christmas decor but also place a bid here or there, or buy a raffle ticket for the $500 cheer basket, and pick up your Christmas cookies,” said Tammy Morison President and CEO of the North Bay Regional Health Centre Foundation.
“Businesses get their tree and then they can decorate it with beautiful decorations but also added value items. There is a restaurant tree with gift certificates from different restaurants in North Bay. There is a hotel tree that has hotel stays all over Ontario. So, you can come away with a beautiful tree and a really good deal too,” said Morison.
This is the third year the NBRHC Foundation has partnered with PADDLE (Providing Adults with Developmental Disabilities Lifelong Experiences).
The partnership was formed in 2017 with festival proceeds going towards the purchase of a $24,000 portable dental x-ray unit for the operating room at the hospital.
“In order to provide basic and preventative dental care for patients who need their dental care done in the OR, you need a portable dental x-ray unit,” explained Morison.
“So, these are individuals maybe with high levels of special needs or children who have a lot of dental anxiety who need to get their dental care done at a hospital.”
Combined with a significant donation from the North Bay and District Dental Association, the dental x-ray unit was purchased, becoming operational earlier this year.
The fundraising goal once again this year is $20,000 to be evenly divided between the Cancer Care Close to Home campaign and the PADDLE program.
Organizers are out in the community six months prior to the festival knocking on doors and collecting donations.
“The success of this fundraiser comes down to the community,” said one of the event organizers Judy Camirand, who is also active with the PADDLE program.
“PADDLE does not get government funding, so without the community, we wouldn’t have PADDLE. We got one-time funding and that is what got us started 12 years ago. We had 7 people back then. We now are at 32 and we have a waiting list. They are learning lots of life skills and they are out in the community a lot.”
This festival runs until 9 p.m. Friday, November 15 and Saturday, November 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the North Bay Museum on Oak Street.
Admission is free.
