U of L and 1D1B committee creating Wishtree for Christmas Tree Festival
The University of Lethbridge Bookstore and the One District One Book Committee are working together to create a Wishtree-themed Christmas tree for this year's annual Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation Christmas Tree Festival.
The wish is to fill the tree’s branches with books (of course), stuffed animals/puppets representing the many animals that adorned Red’s branches (including Bongo!), and more than 1,600 wishes written by students and staff throughout Lethbridge School Division.
The 1D1B committee has been delivering ribbons for wishes to be written on. Students are writing their wishes on the ribbons in the form of a word, phrase or sentence. Ribbons were collected on Nov. 6 and 7 to prepare for decorating day on Nov. 16.
The tree will be available for public viewing throughout the festival, Nov. 17-19, with the auction and Gala taking place on Nov. 20 at The Enmax Centre. This year’s proceeds will support the Mental Health area of the Chinook Regional Hospital.
The Wishtree-themed Christmas tree concept comes on the heals of the division’s successful One District One Book project last year, the first of its kind in North America.
The project saw students, teachers, staff, family members and friends reading the same book at the same time, with 13,000 copies gifted to students in Kindergarten to Grade 12. The shared experience of reading Katherine Applegate’s, Wishtree, was like a million wishes come true.
The U of L Bookstore and 1D1B committee’s Tree of Knowledge also includes special autographed copies of the Wishtree, stacks and stacks of books beneath it, as well as some special gifts from the U of L, including a Pronghorn’s jersey, a coupon for a 10 free visits Facility Pass, introductory climbing lessons for two and theatre tickets.
The gala and auction is on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m., with the auction set for 7:30 pm. Tickets are $80 and are available from www.crhfoundation.ca or 403-388-6001.
Wishtree
