On the Town: Bidders compete at Festival of Trees

‘Tis the season to go to a local tree lot and pick out a beauty that fits your taste and budget, strap it on the roof of your car, somehow get it in the house and standing straight, and then spend hours upon hours adorning it with lights and ornaments.

Sound like a lot of work? Of course it is for every Christmas-celebrating soul except those who decided to forgo all the labor and let local Burbank businesses and civic organizations do the work for them by purchasing a fully decorated tree at the Boys & Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley’s inaugural Festival of Trees.

Supporters, board members and the public gathered at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel for a cocktail reception and presentation of eight full-size and 12 table-top trees this past Thursday evening by the event’s hosts, Alan Tate, who handles sales and marketing for the hotel on Hollywood Way , and Shanna Warren, who serves as the club’s chief executive officer.

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“A lot of Boys & Girls clubs throughout the Unites States do this — partner with local organizations and businesses to have Christmas trees beautifully decorated and then make them available to the highest bidder with the proceeds benefiting the clubs,” Warren said. “We thought it would be a good idea to begin doing this as an annual tradition, for people to either get a great tree fully decorated and delivered to their home, or, if they choose, donate it back to the club for us to give to a club member whose family can’t afford to purchase a tree.”

Along with the small trees that were decorated by members at the club’s satellite elementary school sites, the full-sized trees were donated and decorated by volunteers from the Burbank Assn. of Realtors, the Walt Disney Co., Midnight Oil, Nestlé, Golden State Gymnastics as well as Burbank Noon Kiwanis and Burbank Noon and Sunrise Rotary clubs.

Bidders had a variety of theme choices to select from including a tribute to wildlife, an old-fashioned Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, the superheroes of Warner Bros., and even a retro white-and-orange tree.

Among those who enjoyed the tree-festooned lobby reception were Burbank Mayor Jess Talamantes and his wife, Sandy, Vice Mayor Will Rogers, City Treasurer Debbie Kukta as well as Lorrie Copeland, president of the local Boys & Girls Club, and board members Dan Stillwell, Joan Ortiz, Sally Knutson and Lynn White Shelby, who was accompanied by her husband, Dean.

Last week’s event, which included the music of the Voices of Christmas, a Dickensian caroling quartet comprised of Booter Griffin, Laura Ellis, Hannah Andres and Jim Blanchette, was made possible by Boys & Girls Club staff members Brittany Vaughan, who serves as the director of operations, Mira Shah, finance director, Susan Sebastian, director of development, Lianne DePino, director of club services, Jay Jackson, athletic director, Arpineh Khodagholian, creative arts director, Kevin Bulone, recreational programs director, and Adam Bell, the club’s teen director.

Proceeds from the Festival of Trees will be earmarked for the club’s education programs, which have grown considerably during the past two decades and now serve 2,300 young people at the club’s main facility and 18 local satellite school sites.

For more information about the club, its programs and support opportunities, visit BGCBurbank.org or call (818) 842-9333.

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DAVID LAURELL may be reached by email at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.