Festival of Trees offers view of decorations, gingerbread houses in Port Angeles

PORT ANGELES — The Festival of Trees Gala made a record $119,000 Friday night during its auction and organizers expect the festival to bring in $130,000 for the Olympic Medical Center Foundation by the time it wraps up today.

Kathy Skinner and Pat Elmer’s tree — “Farm to Table” — was the top auction tree at the gala, going for $6,500, while Deb Stoltenberg’s tree “Jingle Bells, Oyster Shells, Santa Will Be Delayed!” was selected by tree designers as the Designer’s Choice Award winner.

Those are two of the 53 decorated trees available for viewing today during Family Days at the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St.

Elaborately decorated gingerbread houses also will be displayed at Family Days between 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. today.

Children will have the opportunity to decorate their own gingerbread houses for $15, which provides them with all decorating materials and access to 10 other youth activities. They also will have the opportunity to have their photo taken with Santa.

Family Days also will feature entertainment. “For those people who want to have their photo taken with Santa and enjoy many types of entertainment for adults and kids, Vern Burton Community Center will be the place to be,” said Mary Hebert, Festival of Trees chairwoman.

The festival’s inaugural gingerbread house show will exhibit the work of designers Chestnut Cottage creating Cobblescone Cottage; Patty Dinius and Amy Henry-Natchke, Northwest Cabin in the Woods; Charity Van Ausdle, Tower Bridge of London; Charity Van Ausdle, Leaning Tower of Pizza; Bryanne Stewart, Up!; Betsy Schultz, Captain Joseph House; Bada Northwest, Northwest Christmas Cabin; Skye Heatherton, Grandma’s Sweet Shoppe; Sheri Lehmann and Molly Gellor, Whimsical Wonderland; Suzie Van Ausdle, Log Cabin; Priscilla Lorentzen, Christmas in the Suburbs; and Red Lion Hotel, Red Lion Gingerbread Hotel.

Each of the decorated trees comes with a premium, special gifts.

Farm to Table offered a premium worth $5,000 — a trip for two to the 52 annual Country Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn., for three days and two night.