A tree from the Bricklanding Women’s Club is the Fan Favorite in the Ocean Isle Museum Foundation’s 5th Annual Festival of Trees, which wrapped up on Dec. 31 at the Museum of Coastal Carolina.
Nearly 4,000 people attended the family-friendly holiday event, which raised thousands of dollars for great causes. A record number of visitors admired 19 elaborately-decorated trees from area businesses and nonprofits throughout the 2024 holiday season.
Museum visitors cast nearly 1,700 votes for their favorite trees and participated in silent auction bidding that raised more than $4,000 for causes tree sponsors designated. The Tree by Gina Gore of Sea Coast Advantage Realty tied the OIMF staff for the highest bid. The funds from Gore’s tree will be donated to first responders in Western North Carolina in memory of her late husband, Mark Gore who served as daily operation director at Brunswick County EMS.
The Bricklanding Womens’s Club Tree, “Winter Wonderland” received the highest number of votes and was declared the Fan Favorite on Dec. 23. Its tree will support a variety of causes in which the club, associated with the neighborhood in Ocean Isle Beach, is engaged. Other trees were sponsored to support the Old Bridge Museum, Sunset Vision, Coastal Carolina Teen Outreach, Coastal Carolina Lighting’s Veteran Decoration Program and other causes. Each tree’s highest bidder took possession of decorated trees once the festival concluded on December 31.
