Ecker Center fundraiser a holiday treat

The first Christmas pageant of the season stars 32 artificial trees competing for "best-dressed" awards to benefit the Ecker Center for Mental Health.

The seventh annual Festival of Trees is the Elgin charity's "signature" fundraiser, said Mary Ann Stephens, public relations and development manager.

Decked not only in boughs of holly, but also grapes and Grinches and Green Bay Packers, the trees will be displayed through Friday at Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave., Elgin.

"Twenty-two hundred people go through the library in a week," Stephens said, "so it's a marvelous venue for us."

After the free public showing, the artificial trees will be trucked to the Chicago Marriott Northwest in Hoffman Estates, where they will be auctioned at the center's Gala event on Saturday night.

From monkeys and angels to snowmen and fish, each uniquely themed tree was decorated by a local artist under the sponsorship of a local business, service organization or individual.

"There are no two years in a row that these come out the same," Stephens said. "They get more creative; they get more competitive."

The tree fashions were judged in two categories, full-size and tabletop, by Cindy Vacek, Rowena Salas and Sandi Perlman, the honorary chairwoman for the event.

For both large and small trees, judges awarded rosette ribbons for best traditional, most creative, most whimsical, most elegant and most distinctive -- "that just falls in the category of 'nobody else would have thought of this idea,'" Stephens said.

"It just stands out in some way."

But the judging isn't over just yet.

The public is invited to cast its own ballots from now through Friday at the library display.

"We let the families vote for their favorites, and we call it the 'People's Choice,'" Stephens said. "That one gets announced at the Gala."

With tabletop trees usually going for $100 to $500 each in a silent auction, and the 7-footers pulling in $500 to $1,200 in live auction, the gala will certainly produce needed funds. A $25 raffle for a diamond pendant and a marketplace for area businesses also will pad the Gala proceeds.

"This is the one to bring the big bucks in," Stephens said. "I think we started a few years ago bringing in about $38,000, and have brought that number up to $60,000-plus in three years."

But that's the kind of money needed for the 52-year-old Ecker Center to operate.

Festival earnings are used to fund outpatient and residential services for adults with clinical depression, chronic anxiety, phobias, suicidal thoughts and other mental health concerns.

The center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, and client fees are based on the family's ability to pay.

"The work that the Ecker Center does, I think, is just purely phenomenal," Pate said.

"I've met a number of people this year that have utilized their services or utilized similar services, and I've seen some very positive results. It's really shown me that there is hope."

The program speaker for Saturday's Gala is the Rev. Patricia Lindquist, a recovery specialist who will talk about her own experience as a mental health "survivor."

Tickets for the gala are still available, at $85 per person, by calling Stephens at (847) 695-0484.