The Festival of Trees will begin setting up in the Great Plains Ford showroom next week. Trees will be set up on November 14th and 15th. The Gala, held on November 23rd will see these trees auctioned off.

"Our thought on the tree is that we would have 600 ornaments, on that tree and every ornament would have a child's name on it that is affected by ASD," says Katie Emde, autism advocate and organizer of this special tree. "We want to bring awareness and that's kind of what me and my husband do, is raise awareness with autism."

Every tree has a story, and the story of Emde's tree is to make people aware of autism. The idea for the ornaments will be puzzle pieces, a well-known symbol of autism. Seeing 600 puzzle pieces all named will give people an idea just how many families are impacted by autism.

Emde's tree is just one of many, provided by many businesses and organizations, that will be available for viewing and auction with proceeds going to the Weyburn Family Place.

"The programs that are run in the Family Place are absolutely amazing, the facility itself is phenomenal, and the funds that it takes to run a place like that is a lot, and to keep it up to par," says Emde. "It's such a great cause, and the staff and everything is filled with love.

Emde mentions that the next few days will be used to decorate these puzzles pieces and make the tree look fantastic.

If you would like to donate to make the tree a success contact Katie Emde at katienimegeers@gmail.com.