Pomerene Hospital Auxiliary celebrates community spirit at annual Christmas Festival

The music, the magic, the twinkling lights and the pageantry of Christmas were on full display at the 16th annual Pomerene Hospital Auxiliary Christmas Festival at Berlin Grande Hotel Dec. 4-6, but most importantly, the joy on people’s faces and cheerful conversations taking place helped further highlight an event that continues to play a key role for the auxiliary to help the hospital in so many ways.

Auxiliary member Cindy Yoder said experiencing the unity of community and seeing people express their gratitude to Pomerene Hospital by supporting the event makes all the work worthwhile.

“Seeing this all come together the way it involved all of our community truly warms my heart,” she said.

This event began 16 years ago at Commercial & Savings Bank for two years before moving to Hotel Millersburg for a couple years. In those early years, it wasn’t nearly as large as it is now. Yoder said it seems as though the event grows every year, and this year was no exception, with the community gifting the auxiliary with 11 more items than last year, and last year was a record year.

That meant 118 different Christmas trees, wreaths, centerpieces, decorations and even some wooden furniture items were donated to the cause. Many of the donors took the time to create their own masterpieces and submit them while others simply gave the auxiliary a check and told them to create something special.

Yoder said the auxiliary members begin soliciting donors for this event in early July, giving them plenty of time to formulate and design their Christmas pieces.

She said they have little problem in finding businesses and organizations willing to invest in supporting the event.

“We have people calling us asking if we are doing it again this year, so it’s become quite popular,” Yoder said. “We all love coming together and decorating this place because it brings us together and it brings the community together for Christmas.”

And as has been the case for years, people came in not only to experience the aura of Christmas that emanates throughout the conference area, but also people opened their hearts and their checkbooks by purchasing many of the items on display.

This fundraiser means the auxiliary can continue to do many of the little, unnoticed things that keep Pomerene Hospital humming along, an effort the staff continues to recognize as a valuable part of what goes into operating a community hospital.

Pomerene Hospital board member Jamie Tippett returned as a judge for the second straight year, and she said it was as beautiful as ever.

“This is something that gets everyone in the Christmas spirit, and it’s such a great cause,” Tippett said. “Our auxiliary is so dedicated to the hospital, and the board appreciates them so much. They allow us to do so many various projects throughout each year, and they are so dedicated to serving both the hospital and the community.”

Milo Miller, who joined Tippett; Anne Gunther, Pomerene Hospital CEO; and Dave Mast of AloNovus served as judges for the event. Miller's business also provided two entries for the event, one of which he reserved the right not to vote because it eventually became the Judge’s Choice for Best Centerpiece.

However, that isn’t why he judges or donates.

“We’ve been donating to this since the beginning when I was just a sales rep for the company and it was at Hotel Millersburg,” Miller said. “It's something we believe is important because we want to support the hospital and our community.”

Many other people are heavily involved in donating to the cause, whether it is food, raffle items and many other facets that make the event special.

Troy Miller, who co-owns Chatterbox Cheesecake with his wife Pam, is a volunteer driver for the hospital. He volunteered cheesecake, which won the praise of nearly everyone who attended the Thursday evening donor portion of the event.

“We wanted to be able to give back, and this was one way we could do that,” Miller said of the classic New York with strawberry topping and mint chocolate chip cheesecakes individually plated.

Others pitched in with their baking talents, with Beth Amicone providing macaroons and Pat Sage once again offering her cookies. Like Miller, Amicone said she simply wanted to give back.

Among the items donated to the raffle this year was a pair of hearing aids from Premier Hearing valued at more than $10,000.

If anyone would like to order cheesecake for any occasion, they can visit www.chatterboxcheesecake.com.