Festival of Trees organizers are in full holiday mode ahead of the annual event.
Travis Kuschminder, marketing and communications manager at Red Deer Regional Health Foundation, said once again this year, the Festival of Wines event tickets sold out pretty quickly.
The tickets were gone within a day, said Kuschminder on Monday.
“It’s a pretty popular event. You get to travel the world in terms of wine selection – all in one room – so it’s wine samples from all over the place, just a great festive night,” he said.
Festival of Trees – Red Deer’s signature holiday event – helps the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. The money raised this year will go towards Pyxis automated medication dispensing systems for various units, such as emergency, operating and recovery room, cardiology and outpatient areas.
The automated systems, with electronic features, will dispense patient medications efficiently and accurately, reducing the likelihood of human error, Kuschminder said.
“We’ve got different units in the hospital requesting (the new system),” he said, adding that currently, the process is paper based.
The 25th annual event offers Red Deer’s favourite lineup of event such as Festival of Trees, Mistletoe Magic, Taste of Red Deer, Festival Fashion Brunch, among others.
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Mistletoe Magic, a father-daughter-dance-type event, on Nov. 24, is very close to selling out said Kuschminder.
The Preview Dinner is the first in the line-up on Nov. 21. The dinner is a formal gala evening for sponsors, which features a dinner, entertainment and live auction.
Families will have a magical morning with Santa Claus where they will enjoy a breakfast, and activities for children at the Breakfast with Santa event.
The Festival of Trees event helps the hospital directly and is an important cause for Central Albertans. That’s why the event is popular, he said.
The event also helps Central Albertans get into the Christmas spirit.
“Westerner Park is transformed into what I would imagine the North Pole would look like – trees and decorations, everyone in that holiday, jolly-kind-of-mood.”
Last year’s event raised a $1.2 million. The funding helped with the purchase of new technology and equipment in two laboratory departments: hematology and microbiology. The two departments are responsible for procuring and analyzing lab samples to assist physicians at the hospital.
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
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