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By Roxana Ross

Osterneck Auditorium will soon transform into a winter wonderland for the 34th annual Southeastern Hospice Festival of Trees from Dec. 6 to 9. This year’s theme is “Merry and Bright,” and the festival will have a wide variety of gifts, decorations, food and holiday magic to spread that sentiment while also raising money for Southeastern Health’s Southeastern Hospice. This year’s new festival hours will be from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7; 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8; and 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 9.

The annual event, which is organized by the Southeastern Health Foundation, is Southeastern Hospice’s only fundraiser. Highlights of the event include the Holiday Tree Parade display, Santa Shop’s baked goods, Candy Cane Lane kid’s activities, and a silent auction.

“We are excited to be partnering with the City of Lumberton and Robeson County Public Library, along with the Carolina Civic Center and others, to create a Christmas Festival downtown, corresponding with the Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony and the opening of the Southeastern Hospice Festival of Trees on Dec. 6,” said Southeastern Health Foundation Executive Director Sissy Grantham. “It will certainly be an event that will leave you ‘Merry and Bright’ for the holidays!”

Admission to the event is $4 for adults and $3 for children, with children 3 and under admitted for free. Osterneck Auditorium is located in the Townsend Building, at 102 N. Chestnut St., Lumberton, across from the Robeson County Public Library.

“We’ll have twinkling lights, mugs of warm cider, holiday music, beautifully decorated trees and vendors galore,” Grantham said. “The additional vendors this year are a new feature we are calling Tinsel Town Market and it will include an array of local vendors on site for holiday shopping.”

Participating vendors include: The Social Standard, Friends of Hospice, Miss Madigan, Tom Tom & Co, Acquisitions, Ltd. and Kringle & Co.

“We are blessed to see the community continue to support this event, which benefits patients and families who receive treatment and services through Southeastern Hospice, Robeson County’s only not-for-profit hospice agency,” said Southeastern Hospice Director Suzanne Jackson. “The donations and funds raised through this event help provide patient care, equipment, crucial and costly medications, and bereavement care for families, who are served by Southeastern Hospice regardless of payment.”

For more information on this event, call (910) 671-5602.