About 40 kindergarteners from Erma Stephenson Elementary in Fraser Heights designed Christmas tree decorations recently for the Season of Trees event at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel.

Fifteen or so Christmas trees are now on display at the hotel. On Nov. 29, the trees will be auctioned off at a wine and cheese celebration, with proceeds going to the Sources Community Resources Society.

"They really were thrilled - and so were we - to be part of this event," said Serena Looi, one of two kindergarten teachers at the school.

Looi said the mother of one of her students presented the class with the idea of decorating one of the trees. The kids immediately loved the idea and they made the decorations during arts and crafts.

"She does a lot of fundraising out in the community and she heard about this opportunity," said Looi. "I've seen different Christmas tree displays before and I thought it would be exciting for the kids to take part in it."

Looi's students made paper chains and ornaments, gingerbread pieces and Christmas trees made of popsicle sticks.

Natasha Raey, social innovator with Sources, said the Season of Trees is an entirely new event for the resource centre.

"I've always loved what they did at the Four Seasons and I also had seen something similar that had been done in Seattle, and so I wanted to bring it to Surrey," she said. "The Sheraton's such a great venue and it's a great way to celebrate the holiday season."

Sources currently has 13 businesses sponsoring the trees and hopes the auction will pull in between $7,500 and $10,000.

"We have no idea what a bid on a tree will bring in, so it's a new area for us," she said.

Money raised from the auction - and from the $50 tickets to attend the wine and cheese event - will go toward various Sources programs. Tickets can be bought online at sourcesbc.ca.

Looi added that she's planning a field trip with her students to the hotel so they can see their work on display.

"We'll probably be part of it next year," she said. "They really enjoyed it, and so did the teachers. It was a good way to start Christmas - in November."

Keeping with the holiday spirit, Surrey Libraries is holding a live tree decorating contest, with over $500 in prizes from Potter's. To earn a spot in the challenge, submit a photo of your best tree decorating work to contests@thenownewspaper.com or drop it off at the Now office, located at 201-7889 132 St.

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