The tinsel has been swept up, the lights have been unplugged, and all the winners of the 2024 Festival of Trees have all been notified.
Organizers of the annual event – and tree and raffle winners – enjoyed the annual event that saw 56 trees on the raffle block this year. From gift certificates to dog houses, a lawn tractor to cash and matching charitable donations, the prizes tallied into the tens of thousands of dollars.
Cash raffle draws and daily door prizes were also dished out over the weekend.
Some of the big winners included Mike Lanlois who came away with the EDS Group -sponsored riding lawn tractor, and Calvin Crossland who came away with the tree and prizes on the Edcon Power Tongs entry.
Organizers printed - and sold out of - 80,000 raffle tickets this year for the trees. It was the largest number of tickets sold in the 14-year history of the festival. Funds raised from the weekend event, including the net proceeds from the tree raffle, go back to local groups and agencies.
The distribution of cheques to selected groups will be done in February.