Festival of Trees Volunteers
By Tommy Osborne
Festival of Trees

Festival of Trees powered by dedicated volunteers

Nov 28, 2023 | 4:30 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The 30th annual Festival of Trees officially begins Wednesday, and while it’s a staple of the Christmas season for everyone who attends, it’s actually a year round effort for the volunteers behind the scenes who work hard to keep it running smoothly.

“January to December, we are planning year round for this event. We eat, sleep, breathe festival all year long. I was in Vegas one year and saw a display in the middle of the summertime and it made me think of festival,” 16-year-volunteer Terry Collins said.

Every year the festival run by Spirit of the North Healthcare foundation raises money to support the hospital, and this year the funds will be supporting the neonatal intensive care unit to care for premature babies. Having the opportunity to support the hospital every year makes all the hard work worth it for the dedicated group of volunteers.

“Knowing that families can stay in town if they have sick family members or children and they don’t have to travel out of town, that’s very dear to my heart. Helping one family at a time and helping as many families as we can is real spirit,” Collins said.

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Anne Muirhead doesn’t know how long she’s been volunteering, but estimates it’s been at least 20 years. As the former president of the hospital auxiliary, she’s happy to continue supporting the hospital by helping set up the Festival of Trees every year.

“Governments and those sort of people can only provide so much, so if you really want to have a hospital that’s world class or is going to be there for your needs, then it’s payback time (for the community),” Muirhead said.

While the hospital is of course a huge motivating factor for the volunteers, it isn’t the only reason. Muirhead said being able to see her hard work pay off with beautiful displays is magical, and being able to spend time with other volunteers and the process of setting up is special too.

“Some of these people don’t live in town anymore, but I do know them, so it’s nice to see the people and also to see it come together. We start off with a blank room and in the middle of setting it up, it looks like absolute chaos. And then all of a sudden it comes together and it’s actually quite a little miracle, really,” Muirhead said.

As for Collins, being able to deliver Christmas Spirit to Prince George makes the year round effort worth it. Despite having a full time job on top of volunteering, she says she’ll always have time for the Festival.

Seeing people walk through and see all the trees and just the creativity of this town just amazes me every year.”

“(The Festival) just pays differently, it pays to your heart. Seeing people walk through and see all the trees and just the creativity of this town has just amazes me every year,” she said.

The Festival of Trees runs from November 29 to December 3 at the Prince George Civic Centre.

by Tommy Osborne

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