PARKERSBURG - The 24th annual Easter Seals Society Festival of Trees will feature more than 30 decorated holiday trees and wreaths on display today through Dec. 10 at the Blennerhassett Hotel.
The annual auction of the trees and wreaths will be 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at the hotel.
Admission to the auction is $25 a person. Tickets may be purchased by calling (740) 374-8876 or at the Starbucks counter in The Blennerhassett Hotel lobby. There will be a silent auction, light appetizers and cash bar beginning at 6 p.m., with the live auction starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
"It's a really fun family event and really gets people in the mood for the holiday spirit," said Kendra Augustine, events manager for Easter Seals of Central and Southeast Ohio.
Individuals, groups and businesses have been decorating and creating the trees and wreaths in a variety of themes, working for several hours Sunday and Monday to get everything ready. Augustine expects to have 34 trees and wreaths prepared for Friday's auction.
"We have some true fans of Easter Seals come out and decorate trees, and they all do such an amazing job. Year after year, it's been high-caliber trees," she said.
Fact Box
If you go
What: Easter Seals Society Festival of Trees auction.
When: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday; silent auction, light appetizers and cash bar beginning at 6, live auction starting at 7:30.
Where: Blennerhassett Hotel, Parkersburg.
Tickets: $25, may be purchased by calling (740) 374-8876 or at the Starbucks counter in the hotel lobby.
One of those volunteers, Kiki Angelos of Parkersburg, has been decorating trees for the Easter Seals event for about 10 years, after also serving on the event committee for a couple of years.
"It's for a good cause, because it's for Easter Seals and for the children," she said.
Angelos has decorated five trees for this year's event, including a Disney Princesses tree, a "Cars" animated movie tree and a New York Yankees tree dedicated to Parkersburg native and Yankee outfielder Nick Swisher, with many items from the Yankees and from Swisher, including an autographed baseball.
During the first three days of the exhibit, organizers encourage the public to visit and vote for the "People's Choice Award," which will be announced the evening of the auction. A number of judged categories will also be announced, including Wreath/Mantel Arrangement, Animated/Children's, Most Original, Outdoor, Traditional Holiday and Victorian/Classic.
Following Friday's auction, the trees will remain on display at the Blennerhassett Hotel through Dec. 10, when the winning bidders will take home their purchases.
Proceeds from the event fund two local Easter Seals programs for people with disabilities, Augustine said. The first is Camp Challenge, a three-day overnight camp for kids with disabilities ages 8 to 18. The second is an equipment purchase/modification and home modification program.
