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Festival of Trees auction raises $15K for Easterseals

By Candice Black 3 min read

PARKERSBURG -- The 33rd annual Festival of Trees auction to benefit the Easterseals Rehabilitation Center in West Virginia was held Wednesday night at the Blennerhassett Hotel.

Easterseals will use the $15,000 raised from the event toward patient care, according to Allison O'Konski, community relations director for Easterseals.

"It's for those who are either underinsured or don't have insurance at all and wouldn't otherwise be able to afford the care that we provide," O'Konski said. "We, thanks to our generous sponsors and donors, are able to provide those services to kids who are in need of them."

This was O'Konski's first year working with the Festival of Trees.

"I think the excitement from everyone else is so contagious. It's been wonderful to hear all of the feedback and I'm just so excited to see it all come together tonight," she said.

Choosing a favorite tree was difficult for O'Konski.

"I saw them being created so I feel like I have such an appreciation for the creativity and the dedication that went into making all of them so it's so hard to pick a favorite. They're just to vast," she said.

For the past 21 years, Betty Shreve has sponsored and decorated a tree. What she loves most is getting to support Easterseals and what they do and she likes to decorate a tree without having to make room in her house.

"I get to be creative to do a tree and then get rid of it because I have no more room in my house for another tree," Shreve said. "It's a good way to help something I believe in."

Betty and her husband Fred won the people's choice award for their tree.

This year was a little different than previous. Since the Blennerhassett renovated and added restrooms to the lobby area, there wasn't as much space for tree displays as before, O'Konski said.

The silent auction kicked off the evening. Those 32 items were donated by businesses and supporters of the event. Among those items were gift certificates, kids sets, car care, a little bit of everything, O'Konski said.

Twenty-six trees and wreaths found new homes during the live auction. In previous years, there was around 40 trees.

"We did scale back this year but it's a good learning year to see how many the hotel can hold comfortably," O'Konski said.

A tree titled "yes I believe in Santa," designed by Kiki Angelos, brought in $1,000, making it the highest bidding item of the night.

O'Konski enjoyed her first Festival of Trees.

"It was great to see so many of the decorators and their sponsors come out for the event," she said. "It was fun to see the excitement building as the bids increase. We're grateful for everyone coming out for the evening and being generous towards Easterseals."

Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com.

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