A holiday tradition that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local children is returning to Presque Isle next weekend.
The popular Festival of Trees will run from Thursday, Nov. 30, to Sunday, Dec. 3, at the Northern Maine Community College gym. Proceeds will benefit the St. Apollonia Dental Clinic in Presque Isle, which serves uninsured or underinsured children.
Funds from the festival go toward operating expenses. The clinic isn’t reimbursed as highly because a lot of patients are on MaineCare, so fundraising helps bridge that gap, said Executive Director Norma Desjardins. But the event also spreads holiday cheer at a time when some people struggle.
“It’s a community event that people can afford,” Desjardins said. “And then when they win a tree on top of that, it’s just such a great start to December, a time that sometimes is a tough time for families.”
Like other areas in Maine, Aroostook County has seen a shortage of dental providers, including dental assistants, for several years. It’s tough to draw dentists to rural areas like Aroostook County, because many new graduates want to work in or near a metro area, Desjardins said.
Desjardins was a dentist in private practice for many years in Presque Isle. While serving on a local health committee, she learned many kids couldn’t access a dental practice at all. She, her husband, Paul, and a committee founded St. Apollonia in 2012 to bring dental care to children who needed it.
“Those were the kids who were invisible to us in private practice,” she said.
Sponsors from all over Aroostook County enter trees in the festival, from school groups to clubs to families. When the winners are called, it’s a touching time, Desjardins said. One mother last year had just told her children she couldn’t afford gifts. Then she won a tree with its assorted prizes.
The clinic serves 3,127 Aroostook County children, St. Apollonia Office Manager Julie Tucci said. Patients come from as far south as Orient and as far north as Allagash.
The festival started in 2014 with 22 trees and brought in about $10,000. The event has exploded since then. Last year featured more than 80 trees, with proceeds topping $150,000.
The premise is simple. Sponsors decorate a tree and set up a display that includes numerous gifts, usually focused on a theme. Festival visitors purchase raffle tickets and deposit them in buckets next to their favorite trees. Winning tickets are drawn at the end of the event.
For the last two years the festival took place at the former Sears location in the Aroostook Centre Mall, but due to ongoing construction at the mall it’s moved back to the community college gym.
Because of fire code and limited space, organizers had to cap the number of trees at 75 this year, Tucci said. The group had to turn away about 15 sponsors, who are now on the list for next year.
“We have had people say they wouldn’t have had Christmas if they hadn’t won a tree with the gifts underneath it,” she said. “And I really truly believe that oftentimes, the people who win are able to bless other people.”
For instance, another of last year’s winners had been ill and was unable to prepare for the holiday. Winning the tree enabled them to have gifts to share, Tucci said.
New this year, the festival will offer preregistration for tickets. People may register online for the tickets they want to buy. When they attend the festival they’ll bypass the long lines and go to another table. Their tickets will be set aside for them and they will pay at that time, Tucci said.
Lines to get into the festival were so long last year that some people actually didn’t make it in, so organizers are encouraging preregistration to ease traffic flow.
Tickets cost $5 for a strip of 10 tickets. Use of the preregistration option requires a minimum $20 purchase.
Hours for the Festival of Trees are: 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, for tree sponsors; 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3. Drawing of the winners will start at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Though the Gingerbread Cafe was featured in past years at the college, food will not be offered this year to allow room for all the trees.
All of the funds raised go directly into the clinic to benefit children, Desjardins said.
“It touches a lot of lives in different ways. And on top of that, we help kids with their teeth,” she said.
