Tree  rises from bed of Warmac  Ventures truck – images 250News

Prince George, B.C. – Once again, the good folks at Warmac Ventures in Prince George  have  delivered a tree that will sit atop the Coast Inn  of the North  during the Christmas season  as part of the Salvation Army’s Christmas campaign.

The 60 foot, 5 thousand pound spruce, was harvested in the  Crocker  forest area  in the  Anzac region.   Sterling Crane provided its services to  raise the tree to the roof  of the hotel  at no  charge.

This is the 29th year   for the “Tree of Lights”  and  it has become a  beacon for giving during the  Christmas season, but  its purpose  will be different this year.

No longer will folks be called upon to buy a bulb  that will  will then be lit along the  string  of lights that  weaves its way through the boughs. “This year, the tree will be a visual barometer of  our  entire fundraising campaign” says Salvation Army Business Manager Bill Glasgow.  “It has been an icon on top of the Coast Inn of the North  for 29 years now,  we wanted to leave the tree  there, but use it as a barometer for the campaign as a whole.  So instead of having a Tree of Lights Campaign and  Kettle Campaign, we will have just one campaign and show the results  on how we’re doing every day.”

The change comes as a result of  last year’s review on the Tree of Lights campaign  which  has been experiencing some  challenges in reaching its goal.

The  Salvation Army will  kick off its campaign  on Saturday, November 12th with  a kick off breakfast from 9 a.m. to noon at the Coast  Inn of the North.

There is another new element  to  the Salvation Army’s fundraising this year, Angel Trees. “We will have Christmas trees in some of the local stores and on the tree will be angels that  have the  age and sex of  child and a suggestion  for what might be  an appropriate  toy for that  child” says Glasgow. That  program is aimed at boosting the Christmas Hamper  project.