CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL : Forget the garland--vacations, hockey tickets and gifts adorn trees at this event.
Forget tinsel, candy canes and strings of lights. The 10th Annual Festival of Trees will show you that there are at least 53 other ways to deck a Christmas tree.
The festival, a fund-raiser for Torrance Memorial Medical Center, turns Wilson Park in Torrance into a holiday wonderland and takes Christmas tree decorating to a new art form.
Fifty-three trees will be topped with teddy bears and trains, flora and fauna, creating a fantasy forest.
Each year, volunteers spend 10 months designing trees, gathering and handcrafting unusual ornaments, and organizing entries for the festival, said Carolyn Snyder, festival chairwoman.
Many trees, with prizes dangling from them, are auctioned off to raise money for the 340-bed medical center. This year, organizers hope to attract 10,000 visitors and raise $50,000 for medical center programs.
Torrance Memorial Medical Center, founded in 1925, has one of three burn centers in the county and is a center for treatment of sleep disorders and cancer, said hospital spokeswoman Theresa Scheer.
More designs than ever will be displayed this year, Snyder said. Each tree is as individual as its designers.
“I walk around the room saying, ‘Ooooh, ahhhh, how did you think of that?’ ” said Snyder, who designed nine trees for this year’s event.
One tree, decorated by a local bakery, is titled “All Aboard for Christmas” and has a train of gingerbread running on a licorice track, edible transportation-themed ornaments and dessert gift certificates.
The “Dinner’s on the House” tree is decked with 20 ceramic houses bearing the names of local restaurants and gift certificates for free meals. Sports fans may want to put an early bid on “1994 All Stars,” a tree decorated with tickets to Kings and Chargers games and other sporting events.
Other trees feature prizes such as hot-air balloon trips, a yacht cruise for 25 and a trip for two to Hawaii.
Last year, bids on trees ranged from $300 to $2,200, Scheer said. The tree auction and buffet dinner begin tonight at 6:30. Tickets by reservation are $40.
This year, four visitors will win “opportunity trees” through a special drawing. In addition, for a $1 donation, visitors will have a chance to win the “certificate tree,” which is dripping with gift certificates to department stores and amusement parks and is valued at $1,500.
Church choirs and school choral groups will perform throughout the festival, and a Santa’s boutique will offer 3,000 gift items ranging from Yule logs to table top trees and wreaths.
Wilson Park is at 2200 Crenshaw Blvd. Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $2. Children under 3 are admitted free.
Information: (310) 517-4606.
