Organizers hope the state will allow them to sell more raffle tickets; more trees planned in 2018
Submitted photo by Lori Musgrave Ryan Church and his daughter Rylee with the Stars and Stripes Car Club sponsored tree.
Fresh from selling out all tickets in its first run, the Trees of Remembrance sequel will have an expanded presence in 2018.
Speaking at the Jan. 8 Cheney Merchants Association meeting, organizer Lori Musgrave from the Cheney Marketplace, told the group that the event sold out of it full compliment of tickets, 3,500. They plan to add to the number of tickets and trees that will be raffled to lucky recipients.
The proceeds from the 2017 event went to a variety of veteran's organizations. The event is similar to "Trees of Elegance," which takes place in Spokane at the Davenport Hotel and raises money for the Spokane Symphony.
The second annual event will have an appropriate theme of 12 Days of Christmas. "We've had several other businesses approach us that also want a tree," Musgrave said.
There will actually be a 13th tree, dedicated to a Cheney-specific tree of sharing. It will be divided between children and senior citizens, Musgrave explained. They plan to work with Cheney Outreach to assist families and children in need who might not be using existing avenues of help. The other part will be dedicated to seniors who might not have gifts at the local center.
Armed with a committee to help drive decisions and planning, Musgrave expects the year-two event to take about six months to organize.
As for the first go-around, "The boxes were stuffed (with entries)," Musgrave said.
Outgoing Mayor Tom Trulove conducted the drawing of the winning entries. Every one of the trees was won by someone who either lives or works in Cheney, Musgrave said. "That was kind of cool," she added.
Because of the level of the gambling license that the state of Washington required to conduct the contest, organizers were limited to the 3,500 tickets. Musgrave expects that to change, allowing more tickets to be sold and money provided the charity that will be selected. That decision will take place with input from the committee and citizens.
The Washington State Gambling Commission only allows organizations two raffles per year and when the event was put into motion there had already been a previous raffle.
"I'm actually excited," Musgrave said. "It may sound crazy but I'm already excited for Christmas next year."
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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