Christmas in November tends to set a lot of people on edge, but when it comes to the Festival of Trees on November 17-18 in Panguitch, most put aside the petty argument and enjoy a helping of cheer and goodwill. This must be partly because the festival itself is a miracle everyone creates together.
As many as 400 people came to see the 20 brightly decorated trees at the Garfield County Fair building. Each tree awed the group with its individual decorations and meaning.
Little Miracles
The Panguitch festival’s story is sprinkled with local flavor and little miracles. It started just seven years ago to benefit Garfield Memorial Hospital, and it raised much more money than anticipated. The locals attribute this miracle to, well, locals.
“I never imagined we’d raise this much money, especially in just seven years,” said Minnie Hughes, who has been in charge of the event since its founding. “It’s kind of a miracle, really.”
This year the festival grew. Minnie joined the Garfield Memorial Health Care Foundation Board, making it possible for the festival to raise money for clinics throughout Garfield and Piute counties. Hoping to get these areas outside Panguitch involved, DeAnn Brown and Monica Taylor, from the foundation board, invited each of the high schools to decorate a tree.
The High Schools Get Involved
Minnie was pretty excited about these new additions to the event. They each brought out the personalities and the people from each of the high schools, with mascots and handmade ornaments.
Bryce Valley High School’s tree gave the students a chance to be involved in something bigger than themselves, a little miracle of their own. And they probably enjoyed it more than expected.
“Christmas is my favorite time of year,” said Bradi Gates, Bryce Valley’s student body vice president, “so I loved to start it early in the season. Making ornaments as a school and decorating it really brought the Christmas cheer.” Their tree included little mustangs pulling Santa’s sleigh.
Piute High School created what is called a memorial tree. Their tree was dedicated to Jaqueline Nunez, a student who passed away at the beginning of this year. Among the 20 festival trees, there were many memorial trees honoring those who passed away from tragic events or diseases.
These kinds of trees will always hold a special place in Minnie’s heart. “The memorial trees are always my favorite,” she explained, after a struggle to choose just one. “They were all so amazing,” she said, talking about all of the trees. The event just wouldn’t be complete without each one.
A Small Group Doing Big Things
DeAnn Brown added that though the foundation didn’t have many specific goals for the festival, two unifying factors seemed to jump out among the organizers. One was to raise funds for the hospital. The other was to honor those who have passed on. “I think our goals were accomplished,” she said.
In the end, the festival raised enough money to start work on an expanded emergency room for the hospital. “And none of it could have been done without the supporters, volunteers, and local businesses all involved in the Festival of Trees,” said Minnie, and that is what makes this project so amazing.
If asked how this all happened, Minnie doesn’t know what to say of all the little miracles. “We’re just a small group of people doing big things for our community,” she finished.
– The Byway
