A SMALL, but generous and enthusiastic crowd attended this year’s Forest of Christmas Trees, with more than $1000 raised at the auction last Thursday.
People turned out to view and bid on the 70 creatively designed Christmas trees to raise funds for Swan Hill Neighbourhood House and this year’s beneficiary, Beverford District Primary School.
Swan Hill Neighbourhood House co-ordinator Kate Bishop said she was thrilled with this year’s event.
“We’re really pleased with how everything went,” Ms Bishop told The Guardian.
“It was a real team effort and the Swan Hill people have once again been very generous with their donations.”
While total figures are yet to be calculated, Ms Bishop said more than $1000 was raised from the auction alone and about $3000 for Beverford District Primary School.
“It’s a demonstration of how generous the community has been,” she said.
“We had great community engagement with lots of different people and businesses decorating a tree.”
Ms Bishop said a highlight of this year was the number of people who turned out to view the trees in Stradbroke Hall.
“The event touches a lot of different people around the community and we had a lot of visitors who loved looking at the trees with some people putting in pre-auction bids,” she said.
“All tree were sold ranging from $5 to $100 with something for everyone.”
Decorations ranged from lollies, native flowers, newspaper headlines, felt, pine cones, baubles and all sorts of creative pieces to produces beautiful and unique masterpieces.
Noel Watson Real Estate’s managing director Noel Watson took bids on the night with assistance from John and Anne Daniel.
Beverford District Primary School principal Phil Cox said the school thoroughly enjoyed being part of this year’s event.
“The Beverford District Primary School was honoured to be the beneficiary of this wonderful community event,” Mr Cox said.
“We would like to thank all of the businesses who generously sponsored the event and anyone who made or purchased a tree. It was a great night and we loved being involved.”
The raffle from the event will be drawn next week.
