In either case, Mountain Home's Festival of Trees Gala Tree Party & Live Auction may be a suitable alternative, particularly so if they're also looking to support a good cause.
Now in its 10th year, the Festival of Trees brings four holiday-inspired events to town to benefit Mountain Home Montana, a nonprofit dedicated to providing a safe, loving home for teenage mothers and their babies.
According to Ray, Mountain Home sees itself as a kind of stabilization program where teen mothers are able to get counseling and help accessing important documents, such as Social Security cards, driver's licenses and birth certificates.
“Oftentimes, these young women have never had a stable place to live and those documents don't exist in one place,” Ray said. “We help them collect that information to become established in jobs, apartments and other areas.”
Beyond that, the 24-hour staff at Mountain Home acts as both spouse and parent to help young resident mothers with infant care and parenting plans to aid in becoming effective parents.
Proceeds from the trees auctioned off at Thursday's gala at the Doubletree Hotel will go toward operating expenses for the nonprofit.
The trees, which are decorated in themes from coffee to wildlife to nautical, are decorated by everyone from business owners to professional designers.
“If it's a business, they may hire a designer, or a lot of businesses appoint employees to decorate the tree,” Ray said. “But either way, everyone puts a lot of thought into what they come up with each year for the gala.”
Bitterroot Motors' Bob Homer has done a tree each year of the 10 years the event has been held.
Ray said she often runs into Homer in spring, when the event committee begins its holiday planning, and he'll have a firm theme in mind.
“He comes up excited and says, ‘Guess what I'm doing this year?' and I just can't believe it,” Ray said.
Last year, Homer did two small white trees - one decked in red, the other in black.
Boyce Lumber & Design Center controller Reidun Johnston kick-started her company's participation in the charity auction just last year. Not surprisingly, the company's inaugral tree carried a construction theme, complete with hammers, rubber washers and yellow tape measures for garlands.
This year, she said, the crew of Boyce employees decided on a dog-themed tree, featuring all things Fido.
Almost all of the employees at the local construction supply house own at least one dog, she said. Aside from Milk-Bone dog biscuits, and other canine treats, the tree's unique base and topper seal its canine identity.
“Jason Quincy built a really cute dog house base, and Keith White in hardware made our tree topper - a hydrant made from metal plumbing parts,” she said.
This year's tree is adorned with everything from tennis balls to dog toys, and its garlands are made from a series of interconnected nylon dog leashes.
Among the professional designers decorating the trees, which range from 3 to 8 feet tall, are Kim Visser and Cindy Bauer.
Bauer thinks a bit outside the box when designing for the Christmas tree gala.
She doesn't use a tree at all.
“I always do furniture, things I've found and then reupholster,” she said.
Last year, Bauer did a pair of chairs, covered in a fabric she brought back from Africa. A few years ago, she did a small red leather and leopard-print fabric chair.
“That fetched over $800,” she said.
Bauer said she came up with the idea of furniture as she sat gazing at her own holiday tree one year, and wanted to give people who attend the event each year a chance to focus on something other than just trees.
“People have really embraced the idea,” Bauer said.
Organizers hope the 27 beautified entries will find homes for a good cause this holiday season.
Reporter Lori Grannis can be reached at 523-5251 or lori.grannis@lee.net.
Trimmed trees
The 10th annual Festival of Trees Gala Tree Party & Live Auction takes place at the Doubletree Hotel on Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m. and features a live auction of 27 designer-decorated trees, wreaths and other holiday items. Tickets to the gala are $45, and are available at Rockin Rudy's, Southgate Mall and Mountain Home, or online at www.moclub.com (click on “Festival of Trees”).
The annual festival features three other events - a silent auction at Southgate Mall through Sunday, a Tour of Trees public viewing on Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and a Teddy Bear Tea Party for children at the Doubletree Hotel on Saturday at 10 a.m. For more information, call Mountain Home Montana at 541-4663.
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