Published: November 07, 2008 11:01 pm      

Annual holiday event ready to go

DANVILLE — For the past 11 years, Provena Samaritans Medical Center Foundation has helped area residents get in the holiday spirit with its annual Festival of Trees.

Each year, the event changes just enough to keep it interesting and fresh without losing the many traditions community members have come to enjoy.

This year’s 12th Festival of Trees, titled “Believe,” takes place Nov. 15-19 at the David S. Palmer Arena. The Parade of Trees and the Junior Parade of Trees, Gallery of Wreaths, Ye’ Olde Candy Shoppe, Main Street Raffle House, Our Town Gingerbread Bakery, Main Street Raffle House and other popular attractions will all be part of the event.

Holiday Cafe

So will the Holiday Café, where visitors can rest and refresh themselves. But the café’s menu will have a twist this year — the food will be similar to that served during the summer at Center for Children’s Services Café on the Lawn.

Mimi Barnes, director of youth and family support at the center, said she considered the selection of the GED/GRADS students to cater the event as “an extraordinary compliment.

“This is a group of young people starting an entrepreneurial venture,” Barnes said. “We’ve done other catering jobs in the past, but they were single events.”

Each day, the café will offer food they’ve adapted for Festival of Trees from their summer menu. Selections will include Italian beef, pulled pork with barbecue sauce and chicken salad garnished with fruit. The café will feature soups, including butternut squash bisque, and kid-friendly food, like breadsticks with dipping sauce and tacos in a bag. Special desserts will be on the menu, too.

Barnes said prices will be comparable to those at Café on the Lawn, with most entrees around $5.

Masquerade Jewelry

For those ready for some Christmas shopping, a new addition to the festival will provide the perfect venue. The Masquerade $5 Jewelry Sale offers what company representative David Hobbs called “quality and quantity.”

Hobbs said the company, based out of Knoxville, Tenn., sells “a huge variety of merchandise, from wallets and purses to jewelry and pashminas.

“People don’t just buy one item,” he said. “They buy multiples.”

Not only is everything the company sells $5, but 20 percent of the sales are donated back to the charitable sponsor — in this case, Provena USMC Foundation.

“We rely on volume for our profit,” Hobbs said of the many items that are closeouts on name-brand merchandise.

Wine tasting

Another new event for the Festival includes food, but beverages are the focus The women’s tea was once a staple of the Festival of Trees, but this year organizers replaced it with Celebrate in the Vigneto, a wine-tasting complete with music by Tommy K and hors d’oeuvres from Applewood Foods Catering.

Wine expert Matt Dickson, assistant manager of Alto Vineyards Champaign store, will cover wine-tasting basics with those who attend. Six wines from that vineyard will be featured during the 30-minute tasting.

“We’ll talk about what people should look for in a wine,” Dickson said. “We’ll introduce the basic types of wine for people who aren’t really into wine. For those who are familiar with wine, it will be like a review course.

“We’ve found it’s easier for people to wrap their heads around a wine tasting if they think of wine as food,” he said. “You don’t have to like them all but, through experience, you come to appreciate them.”

Tickets for this 5:30 p.m. Nov. 18 event are $30; reservations are required and available through the arena’s box office or Web site.