Festival of Trees set for Nov. 16

In its 20th year, the annual Liberty Place Inc. Festival of Trees has become not only an amazing evening for all those in attendance, it also serves as the primary fundraiser for the non-profit organization to raise money for programs for brain injury survivors.

The 2017 event will take place Thursday, November 16 at the Best Western GranTree Inn in Bozeman. Trees will be on display starting November 13 and the November 16 gala will start at 5:30 p.m. Reservations are required to attend the event.

The 19th annual event in 2016 was a huge hit with a record number in attendance.

According to Festival of Trees Chairman and Liberty Place Executive Director Ann Geiger, over 290 were in attendance last November.

Geiger said the fundraiser is hugely important to Liberty Place, as it helps them meet costs throughout the year.

"This helps to fund things like all of our Brain Injury Specific Programs, Music Therapy, Gardening Projects, Outings and Activities for our residents, maintenance on our facilities... the list goes on," Geiger said. "We are thankful for every dollar given and for every person who attends."

Geiger said the clients at Liberty Place are mostly funded through Montana Medicaid, and the expense of running the kind of quality service they do is not covered by what Medicaid pays.

"That is why we raise funds, so we can provide the kind of quality services that move people forward to a better quality of life," she said.

The November 16 event will start with a viewing in the Grand Ball Room from 3 to 4 p.m. The silent auction will start at 5:30 p.m., dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m., the Liberty Place "Thriver Story" is scheduled for 7 p.m. and a Live Auction featuring Dean Folkvord will take place at 7:30 p.m.

For more information about attending the event, please visit http://www.liberyplace.org/festival-of-trees, or call 406-287-3154.