The organizers of the ELF (Era’s Less Fortunate) Fund’s Festival
of Trees are so excited about raising money for the needy this
Christmas season, they’re “off their rockers.”

The theme for the fourth annual Festival of Trees will be
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” according to committee member
Francie Ambuske.

Ambuske said the committee wanted to create other approaches to
the Festival of Trees, and this year, they decided rocking chairs
and rocking horses were the way to go.

The committee is looking for rocking chairs and horses that, in
the hands of an artist or would-be artist, could be converted into
a Christmas theme, she said.

“We’re requesting (members of) the community at large get off
their rockers, check the attic and get those items to us,” Ambuske
laughed. She added used chairs and horses are fine, as long as they
are in good condition or “gently used,” she said.

The Festival of Trees auction – set for the evening of Nov. 17
-ðwill be sponsored by Northwest Savings Bank again this year, she
added. There will be a public, a silent and a Chinese auction that
night. The decorated rockers and horses will be up for bid, along
with the traditional Christmas trees, wreaths and swags.

Other donated Christmas items from local merchants and some
Thanksgiving items will also be up for bid, Ambuske said.

“We would love 30 or 40 chairs,” she said. She said it would be
best to have the chairs and horses in the next week to 10 days, so
that the artists can have two weeks to work on them before the
auction.

All proceeds from the Festival of Trees this year will benefit
the ELF Fund.

Those with chairs or horses to donate, or those who would like
to help decorate the donated items, can contact Bunny Comilla at
W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co., or Main Street Manager Diane
DeWalt for more information. Those who wish to donate chairs or
horses, and need the items picked up from their homes can also
contact Comilla or DeWalt, Ambuske said.

Other members of the Festival of Trees committee are Chris
Minich, Ginny Digel Neel, Craig Hallock and Vonda Reese.

A few Christmas trees, wreaths and swags are still available to
be decorated for the auction, as well, Ambuske said.

Traditionally, residents, organization and businesses have
participated in the Festival of Trees by purchasing a tree, wreath
or swag, decorating it, and then donating it back to the cause to
be auctioned.