Festival of Trees Launches Christmas Season

Christmas season launches this weekend at Festival of Trees & All Things Christmas

The scent of spruce trees mixed with Christmas magic was in the air today as the community kicked off the holiday season with the annual Festival of Trees and All Things Christmas at the North Bay Museum.

The Festival is open to the public from now until Saturday evening at 4:00 p.m. It’s featuring beautifully decorated Christmas trees, wreaths and other holiday novelties and décor, available for community members to bring home through bidding at the silent auction. Every tree, wreath and silent auction item were donated and decorated by a local business or organization. Every bid adds value to the community by supporting the North Bay Regional Health Centre Foundation and the PADDLE Program; festival partners since 2017.

The Festival is already having a positive impact in our community. In 2017, it focused on raising funds to purchase a $24,000 portable dental X-ray unit that is used in the operating room at North Bay Regional Health Centre. This unit is critical for patients who need to be sedated for routine dental care.

Thanks to a significant donation from the North Bay and District Dental Association, as well as funds raised through the Festival, the dental X-ray machine was fully funded by donations, operational earlier this year, and is already helping families access this care, close to home.

“Having a dental X-ray unit available for use in the operating room allows many patients to have routine dental care closer to home. This removes a significant burden faced by many families,” said Dr. Melissa Dent, Head of Dentistry Service, NBRHC, Partner, North Bay Family Dentistry and representative of the North Bay and District Dental Association. “Patients with special needs and young children with dental anxiety are no longer required to travel to larger centres such as Ottawa and Toronto to receive basic and preventative dental care. This makes a real and meaning difference their lives,” she added.

“The Festival of Trees and All Things Christmas is a fun event for the entire family to come enjoy the magic of the season and support two worthy organizations that are making a difference in our community; the Foundation and PADDLE,” said Tammy Morison, President and CEO of the NBRHC Foundation. “Thank you to our partners at PADDLE and to all our sponsors for making the Festival possible. And a special thank you to everyone bidding on auction items, your generosity is having an impact on the lives of others,” said Morison.

“The PADDLE Program and all of our participants look forward to this wonderful event launching the Christmas season. We offer thanks and appreciation to everyone involved,” said Megan Johnson, PADDLE Program Executive Director. “The Festival symbolizes how the beauty of Christmas is about people coming together and supporting organizations working to help our community,” she added.

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*PADDLE-Providing Adults with Developmental Disabilities Lifelong Experiences

CONTACT:

Bob Pipe
Communications Specialist, NBRHC Foundation
Text: 705.471-6205