Past and present board members of Falher & Area CAPS (Community Association for Professional Services) along with Dr. John Loge celebrate reaching their goal of paying off the Falher Medical Clinic at this year's festival of trees event Dec. 6. Over $85,000 was raised, all going to the mortgage owed on the clinic.

Over $85,000 was raised at this year's festival of trees fundraising even, helping Falher & Area CAPS (Community Association for Professional Services) to pay off the Falher Medical Clinic. The event, held on Dec. 6, was intended to pay off the rest of the mortgage owing on the clinic. If the committee managed to raise just $75,000, Dr. John Loge promised to foot an additional $10,000 to meet the dues on the building. "If it wasn't for Dr. Loge and the rest of the community we would never have been able to raise that much money," says CAPS secretary Coralee Maure. "We had a lot of help this year from people who were excited about the possibility of paying off our clinic." Maure says the CAPS committee is very thankful to Dr. Loge, who on top of his $10,000 donation, also bid on many of the items in the live auction, helping the committee to reach its goal. Festival of trees' live auction included; trees decorated by local businesses, quads, a fishing trip, a washer and dryer, and many other big ticket items. In all, the live auction raised a total of $81,000, much of which came from the fishing trip, auctioned off for $8,000. In addition, Dr. Loge gave his promised $10,000 and the silend auction raised about $5,000. "The mortgage on the Falher Medical Clinic is officially paid off," explains Maure, who says the entire CAPS committe and all the festival of trees participants were elated when the fundraiser marker went over the $75,000 mark. A live band, Lipstick and Whiskey, was featured this year with the musical talent of Albert Lemire, Lucie Sauvageau, Gil Aubin, Richard Aubin, and Kade Shields. The main goal this year was to make the final payment on the mortgage of the clinic. "We were hoping the live auction would generate upwards of $75,000," says Maure. "Instead we managed to beat our goal by almost $20,000." Organizers are unsure when the next festival of trees will be held, or even if the event will be held again in the community. The committee has been thinking about different types of events to hold in upcoming years as potential fundraisiers for CAPS and the medical centres in our community. Around 200 people attended the event, and Maure says they came out with a mission to help pay off the clinic. She explains final fundraising figures are not in for the ticket sales or the liquor sales. This year the theme was "Santa's Workshop." The festival of trees has been held in Falher for the past 12 years. Last year the event raised over $60,000, all of which was used to decrease the mortgage amount on the clinic. "We are truly thankful to the people in our community for the donations and their support in the bid to pay off the clinic." says Maure.