Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:01 Good morning, Fort Memorial wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. You've tuned into the Mac city morning show. I am your host Elliot Pierre, and we're going to start this show off the way we start every show off with a moment of gratitude. I know you could be doing a million things with your time and the fact that you spend it with us truly does mean the world to me. So thank you on that note, Tanner in with the intro.
Speaker 1 00:00:20 Oh, she caught me loves you're listening to the next any morning shower.
Speaker 0 00:00:29 All right. And we're back. I'm excited about this guest. I think she's in second place. Maybe even first place at this time for being a repeat guest. So, uh, without further ado, I'm just going to let her introduce herself.
Speaker 3 00:00:40 Well, hi everyone. I'm Cindy, I'm wrong. And executive director for the Northern lights, health foundation. Super delighted to be back here in the green chair, which as you can see, I've made more comfortable every time I've come to. So happy.
Speaker 0 00:00:53 There you go. Now you're here for a very important reason. You have something coming up this weekend. So let's just plug that right off the bat.
Speaker 3 00:00:59 All right. Well, it is festival of trees weekend 32nd annual festival of trees here in forming Marie, uh, the most important fundraiser for the health foundation that funds numerous projects, uh, all throughout this region. And, uh, we can't do it without you guys. So we're going to tell you all about it.
Speaker 0 00:01:18 Here we go. Okay. So this year is a little bit different. Um, it's all virtual this year. Yeah. So what does that mean?
Speaker 3 00:01:26 Well, you know, everyone had to pivot and turn and change and grow. Uh, in this case, we have been moved to an online format, uh, asked not to gather gas guests. Uh, we don't want to spread anything. You don't want to make things more difficult for anybody. And we've got the holiday season coming. We want you to be able to gather safely at your home. Uh, so we've designed an entire weekend around that. Try and keep the themes of festival all going. So you will have ugly Christmas sweater day it's on Friday, where are your ugly Christmas sweaters to work, uh, where then where you play, where the, where, where you hang out, go on our website. I'm going to give you that address shortly and there's photo booth. Take your photos in your ugly Christmas sweater. The photo booth is going to change every day for various elements of festival of trees.
Speaker 3 00:02:14 And you can enjoy that. Just upload your email and you can send those photos to anybody. So you're going to be in the frame the whole weekend. Okay, cool. So we kick off ugly Christmas sweater day, Friday. Okay. Uh, we do have a tale of trees auction. Uh, the trees are all on silent auction and we've had Danny Hooper here for the last couple of days. We've had your team, uh, out doing all the videography. So we know we've got a really special video for the tail of trees, 12 trees this year. Okay. Uh, and some of them are just stellar.
Speaker 0 00:02:52 Unbelievable. We've seen entire
Speaker 3 00:02:54 Rooms that were done. Uh, just unbelievable.
Speaker 0 00:02:59 Yup.
Speaker 3 00:03:00 So anyway, guys, you're really gonna want to check these all out. Um, we are doing SA a family fun day on the Sunday, Storytime with Santa baking with Cindy, Lou who? A little checking in on him. What's up with buddy? The elf, uh, lots of other good stuff. Okay.
Speaker 0 00:03:19 Yeah. And so if anybody wants to bid on the silent auction items, if they want to get those trees, those elusive trees are hard to get.
Speaker 3 00:03:28 It's only 12, this shirt. So already we're hearing some bidding. That's going to be happening. How are they going to do it? Uh, we have a special website that we've established for this year. It is give to N L H f.ca. It is a spectacular site, uh, uh, within that you will find the links and the pages. That'll take you to the giant toy box raffle, the stocking stuffer, 50 50 raffle, the winter Wonderland, silent auction, tale of trees, uh, silent auction in the video. Uh, and there's so one other thing, which is the tree of hope where you can donate, uh, the equivalent for Teddy bear, that'll go on the tree. And that's, that's the only thing we're going to be live on. We'll actually be down at McDonald island, uh, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This weekend, you can make your donations right there. Put the Teddy bear on the tree. You can make your donation online. And I'll personally put your Teddy bear on the tree. There you go.
Speaker 0 00:04:30 Yeah. Now that you did something last year, but I heard you're expanding on it this year is like that drive-through light show.
Speaker 3 00:04:37 Yeah. That's the bright nights that's coming. Oh boy. Uh, November 30th to December 6th, it isn't attached to festival trees, but it is all one theme. Theme is a community of giving at this time of year, uh, specifically driving to healthcare for, in our case. Um, bright nights is put together by our partners, Suncor, Syncrude clubs, 63, the RMW B Athabaska tribal who have provided all of the infrastructure, the, the work that goes on in, in bringing up a show of that size. And it's doubled in size this year. Elliot. Yeah. It's huge. It's huge. You're going to love it. I can't wait. Yeah. Tickets your $30 per car. So, you know, pack your car safely and um, just, you know, you have to have a ticket to show up. They're also available on the health foundation website already. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:05:32 Oh, so you can print if you get them awesome. It was Keegan's highlight of last Christmas and I'm not just saying that, like he loved it. Did he like Santa? He loves Santa there's buddy. The elf was hanging out there. And what was cool about it was like, you got to turn your radio station and you could hear the Christmas music and they were chatting. And it like really created a, a really festive vibe.
Speaker 3 00:05:55 You know, it takes, uh, most of the community to put this together. So the music and the radio piece is all done by Jerry Neville's team. Jerry never production the, uh, infrastructure work we've got, I mean, there's ATPCO and SITA and all kinds of companies behind the scenes to prepare that ground, make sure that it's flowing every night that the power's there and it's, uh, it's a ton of work, right? And it's going to be a great reward for right
Speaker 0 00:06:23 Now, these trees that are on fraction and all the different auction items, excited. I go online and I bid on these. I've been bidding on them for years now and I never win. So I think I have an upper hand clearly I don't put enough money. I need to up my budget. So when I'm bidding on these, are people going to, am I going to get notified when somebody else tries to outbid me?
Speaker 3 00:06:43 So you're going to sign onto the silent auction. And in first of all, you know, you get that, that thing that comes up that says, oh, you haven't registered. Go ahead and register. I'm not going to ask you for your credit card until we're down to the wire and you are going to pay for it. So you're going to set up yourself a profile, trying to get an email from the health foundation saying, we think you're doing something. Are you doing something? And in which case, you're going to say, yep, that's me. I really want to get on your silent auction. I'm just gonna tell you right now, uh, there are 118 items on the silent auction. They range from home decor to, uh, services. Uh, oh, today we get a fabulous snowblower. I'm on a grid, a great day to get a snowblower. Got it. This morning through a Canadian tire. Is it donation? Um, you're going to want that really fast. Uh, the trees are on the auction. Christmas decor is on the auction. Um, and every time you bid the, if somebody goes to, you know, outbids, you, you are going to get an email that says, Hey, do you want the snowblower or not get going? Let's go.
Speaker 0 00:07:51 Well, I think that's great because in the past, like I've written down when it was live, you'd write down on a piece of paper and then you'd go away and then somebody else would just outbid you. And then you have to come back
Speaker 3 00:08:02 And they'd be watching across the room. I feel sure of it. They'd be like, oh, that's Cindy. She really wants that key piece of Christmas gear wants it.
Speaker 0 00:08:13 I think with the notifications, I actually stand a chance this year. Cause I'll get notified that, Hey, somebody else outbid you, instead of somebody trying to like sneak on that,
Speaker 3 00:08:22 You going through the whole auction every time you can actually, uh, favorite things so that a little hard on him. And then your favorite list will keep coming up and the girl can expand it at any time. Of course.
Speaker 0 00:08:33 Okay. Well, I'm going to bid, I'm going to try to get a tree, but it might be outside of my budget.
Speaker 3 00:08:38 They said there's a lot of shortage around right now for gifts and things. We've already done the shopping. You just have to sit there and pick them out, um, and pick up of the, of the auction items. We'll be starting Monday the 22nd. Um, so you're going to have, yeah, you're gonna have everything for Christmas. I wanted to tell you a little bit about what about the giant toy box?
Speaker 0 00:09:02 Yeah, no, you didn't. Let's hear about the toy box. It's my favorite thing to see actually at the auction.
Speaker 3 00:09:07 And again, you know, with, without, uh, without a venue this year, uh, you're going to see the, the raffle, uh, information. Um, but we do have photos as well of the $2,500 in, uh, toys and puzzles and art supplies and sports equipment that the, the elves at ape maintenance have gone and done all the shopping. Uh, it's one big package. You will need a truck to pick this up. It's a, it's a lot of goods, tremendous, unbelievable, tremendous raffle, really pleased.
Speaker 0 00:09:42 Every time Keegan sees it. Cause they, the elves have made a toy box and it's all it's
Speaker 3 00:09:49 Yeah, it's a forefoot acrylic, a toy box, all sides and it doesn't fit it. There's not a room in there. It's unbeliever flows.
Speaker 0 00:09:59 And the last time I last year when we walked by it, because it was at the airport and he saw it, he's like, how many tickets are you going to buy for that debt? I said, oh, just one. He's like, no, I don't think so. He's like, you probably should buy a few more of those. Cause I really want that toy box. So yeah. That's
Speaker 3 00:10:15 Yeah, it's been amped up. Yeah. The other thing that's been really amped up this year is the stocking stuffer raffle. Okay. Uh, we can go as high as $500,000 on the raffle. So somebody could potentially win $250,000. Now of course, requires everyone to buy their tickets. Right. Build that pot. And then someone is taking home a fabulous prize this year. Oh yeah. Okay, cool. That was both will be drawn on Monday morning, the 22nd of November. So right after the weekend, it's all going to happen very quickly. And then it's going to be over very quickly. Like no remorse here, friends get on now and you can already set your profile up. You can start viewing everything. You can view the information about the trees. Um, and the videos will be coming alive very, very shortly.
Speaker 0 00:11:04 There we go. All right. Now, before we cut you loose, cause we are getting to that point. Tanner has a segment. You know what it is? The Mac CD minute Tanner hit her with the Maxine a minute.
Speaker 4 00:11:13 Alrighty. Question number one. What has been your favorite tree that you've seen in your many years of working the festival?
Speaker 3 00:11:21 I have seen some beauties. I think the one that is always going to stick out in my mind is after the fire and it was called rising from the ashes, this, um, creation, I will call it a creation or the tree was created by Alison flat. Uh, and she made, uh, I think she, the, the, the, the whole piece was around seven, seven and a half feet tall. And it was a woman, uh, literally rising out of the ashes, all made out of feathers, graduated in color from the deepest black up to the gray and the smoke, and then filled with a headrest, had peace. It was stunning. It was stunning. I don't think anyone had seen anything like that ever. Right. Um, it's sold for a record $80,000 to buyers that each went in for 40,000. Um, not our highest tree ever. I will say that, but certainly the most spectacular piece that I can remember.
Speaker 4 00:12:20 Yup. Question number two. What is your favorite part of doing a Christmas festival in the community of Fort McMurray?
Speaker 3 00:12:28 Well, this community absolutely loves festival trees. They love the fact that that feels like it's beginning of Christmas. Uh, it feels like it's a chance that you're going to see other people, uh, you're going to dress up. You're going to engage in things that you can only really do at this season. Uh, so they love it. Therefore we love it and just kind of, uh, kind of flows off. We keep trying to be super creative and, uh, you know, introduce new elements and everyone still wants to give us the old and add the new. So that's always fun. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:13:02 Question number three. What is your favorite part of the Christmas season?
Speaker 3 00:13:08 Oh, for me it's family, um, you know, getting to see my daughters, uh, even sometimes last year we connected, uh, just through zoom and it was, you know, we did movie fests and games nights and we did, uh, Christmas morning together and you know, the whole thing of great if I could be with them a little more often, but, uh, joining with family, it's definitely the best part.
Speaker 4 00:13:30 Question number four. What is your favorite holiday tradition that you take part in?
Speaker 3 00:13:36 Well, I used to think it was the dinner, but, uh, unless somebody cooks for me, that's not happening. Uh, Hey, Danny Hooper is a great cook. Uh, I will tell you that even though my children are long gone from home, I it's not Christmas until I watched the Grinch. It preferably the original, um, I have it on a VHS if anyone needs it. I also will always watch that, I think is just terrific. That was great.
Speaker 4 00:14:05 And your final question, what is your most anticipated event that the festival is holding this year?
Speaker 3 00:14:12 Oh, most anticipated. Uh, well, uh, you know, I really think that people are going to enjoy the tail of trees video. It is, um, it's an interview, private interviews basically with the, either the designers of the trees, the companies are supporting them and they all have very strong reasons for why they would go out of their way to create a Christmas tree that they're not going to enjoy. They're gonna, they're gonna, you know, make sure it gets donated to the health foundation for sale to somebody else. Uh, I think that's going to be important to people to see that and get a feel for what's really going on in the,
Speaker 4 00:14:49 And those have been your five questions. There
Speaker 0 00:14:51 You go. All right, well, listen, thank you for coming again. Hope to see you again and again and again. Now at the end of the show, everybody gets a shameless shout out or plug. I kinda know what you're gonna say already, but nonetheless, this is, uh, your, uh, your time to shine the cameras on you. The lights on you have fun.
Speaker 3 00:15:08 All right. Well, I am going to definitely shout out to the Northern lights, health foundation, festival of trees. Uh, two ways you can find this information, prefer that you go to give to N L H f.ca lots of information there. It's all very specific to a festival of trees. And if you're looking for more information, just go to my website, which is a health foundation, Northern lights, health foundation, very simple. You'll find everything you need there and bright nights too. Here we go.
Speaker 0 00:15:36 All right. Well, Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world, that's been another episode of the Mac Sydney morning show. Please go onto those websites and support the regional health foundation. Northern lights. No, you're getting rid of the regional component years ago, Northern, sorry.
Speaker 3 00:15:52 Elliot was born. So
Speaker 0 00:15:53 Yeah, he just loves it. And the lights regional health foundation, but it's removed the regional go onto their websites, support them festival. Tree's happening this weekend. I'm going to try to win something this year. I hope you're having a great day and I'll see you tomorrow. Peace.
