HERMISTON, Ore.-Halloween is next week, Thanksgiving is on the horizon, and Christmas will be here before we know it, and planning for one of Hermiston’s most prestigious holiday traditions is already well underway.
Festival of Trees, an annual fundraiser for the Hermiston Kiwanis Club and Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation (GSCHF), is December 5-6 at the Hermiston Community Center.
Large Tree Designers, who will be decorating trees and purchasing gifts to be auctioned off, gathered for an informational luncheon at Delish Bistro in Hermiston on October 22.
“Thank you all for being here and for committing to decorate a tree,” said Liz Marvin, GSCHF Executive Director. “Large trees are the shining stars of Festival of Trees. They really are the wow factor of the event and decorators set the tone for that, and we appreciate it.”
2026 marks the 31st anniversary of the two-day fundraiser that features live and silent auctions of Christmas trees, tabletop trees, gift baskets and stockings to benefit the community.
The GSCHF has been partnering with Hermiston Kiwanis on Festival of Trees for about the past 15 years, with all proceeds going back into the community to support the foundation’s grants, as well as scholarships that invest in the health care future of the community, and the Kiwanis’ work on behalf of children.
“We’re here to raise money for the community and your work makes our community better,” said Marvin.
This year 12 local businesses and organizations are sponsoring large trees and several of those tree designers attended the luncheon.
In addition to Marvin, Shawn Lockwood, Large Tree Coordinator for Festival of Trees, Julie Puzey, who handles publicity, programming, and printing for the event, and Kari Christiansen, a retired large tree designer, attended the luncheon.
Lockwood went through important set-up, decorating, displaying, and transporting information with tree decorators at the luncheon, before Christiansen gave a demonstration on how to best put lights on a Christmas tree.
“Lights can be the tricky part of decorating, but they’re also fairly easy now that they’re all LED,” said Christiansen, who designed a large tree for Festival of Trees for about 25-years in all, despite taking a break here and there.
With a small tree, Christiansen demonstrated how to apply lights in a pie-shaped pattern, starting at the bottom and then working in and out of the branches, as well as up the tree.
“We encourage you to put the lights on in a certain way so that if there’s a problem or some go out, you don’t have to take the whole string off all the way around the tree,” said Christiansen.
Following the luncheon, large tree designers will now finalize the theme of their trees and work on purchasing and collecting gift items to be auctioned with them.
The 2026 Festival of Trees is December 5, followed by Family Day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on December 6.
Tickets will be available online starting November 2.
