Festival of Trees was 'smashing success'

Editor,

To the Citizens of Lake County:

The Board of Directors of the Lake County Youth Home and the Festival of Trees Committee thank all of our friends and supporters in the community who gave so generously to make our 8th annual Festival of Trees gala held last weekend at KwaTaqNuk such a smashing success.

For the fourth year in a row we sold out the event virtually immediately after the tickets went on sale, and we had a waiting list for people wanting tickets. The Festival truly has become a Holiday tradition in Lake County to kick off the Christmas season.

This past year saw us operating the Youth Home at full capacity for most of the year. While this was great, it also presented us with new challenges … we had kids and houseparents falling over one another in our small living area. The Board decided to explore the possibility of adding a 750 square foot addition, a "rec room" off of the living room. While we are still in the preliminary planning stages, we explained our predicament to those in attendance at the Festival, and they responded big time!

In addition to raising over $35,000 from our auctions and raffles, we had several contractors and local business people step up and volunteer to donate labor, materials, and funds for the footings, exterior walls, roof, and the electrical for our proposed addition. It looks like we will get our much needed room sooner than we had even hoped!

This past year 14 kids will have spent some time in our facility, and the Youth Home has seen its 34th birthday. We are committed to work to continue to provide this invaluable service to the youth of our area who need our assistance to provide some structure and direction in their lives.

Thank you, thank you, thank you again to the dozens of businesses and individuals who have partnered with us with your generous donations of time, money, services and merchandise to make our 2006 Festival of Trees fund-raising event such a success.

Mark your calendars now for Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007, for our next Festival of Trees. Great food, fun, and fund-raising for a great cause.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a most prosperous New Year!

Barb Monaco, Chair

Festival of Trees

David Conrad, Chair

Lake County Youth Home

Board of Directors