Remembrance Tree Dec. 3 @ EKU

The annual Remembrance Tree ceremony is set for Sunday, December 3, 2:00 p.m., at the EKU Center for the Arts Grand Hall.

The event is a long-standing tradition for the community, bringing hundreds together on the first Sunday in December for more than 20 years.

The Remembrance Tree ceremony gives the community a chance to remember loved ones during the holiday season by placing a personalized memorial ornament on a remembrance tree.

“We begin getting calls in early November each year,” says Brenna Wallhausser, director of public relations. “People want to know when it will be.  I think it has just always filled a real need for families who are missing someone, especially at this time of year when people gather together.”

After an opening prayer and holiday music, the memorial list of names is read.  Guests place their personalized ornament on the Remembrance Tree when they hear their loved one’s name.  If no one is present to place the ornament on the tree, a hospice staff member will do so.

A variety of refreshments, donated and made by Hospice Care Plus staff and volunteers, will be served following the ceremony.

After the ceremony, the ornaments will be taken to Hospice’s Compassionate Care Center and placed on the Center’s Christmas tree. Guests who wish to take their personalized ornament home with them may do so immediately following the ceremony, or they can claim them at the Compassionate Care Center anytime between December 6 and 31.

To request an ornament, contact Hospice Care Plus at development@hospicecp.org, 859-756-4755, or 1-800-806-5492. Donations for ornaments can also be made online at Hospice’s secure giving site. (Be sure to click on “Memorials, Notifications, Designations” near the top of the page, and then write “Remembrance Tree” in the text box, along with the name you want on the ornament.) There is no charge for the ornaments or for the ceremony, but a donation—of any size—is suggested. Proceeds from the event fund all of the programs offered by Hospice Care Plus.

Hospice Care Plus is a non-profit organization serving Estill, Jackson, Lee, Madison, Owsley and Rockcastle counties. Services include hospice care, palliative care, bereavement outreach, and hospice inpatient care at the Compassionate Care Center.  All services are provided regardless of ability to pay.