Tree lights honor loved ones

by Bridget Cooke

Every year, the Mayo Clinic Health System in Wisconsin works to honor the community through a ceremony rooted in the tradition of the holiday season.

Locations varying from Osseo to Barron to Bloomer celebrate the Love Light Ceremony the first week of December, inviting honored guests to stop by and light a designated tree with colored and white lights. 

Mayo Clinic Health System - Oakridge in Osseo celebrated their annual ceremony at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4 in their newly constructed clinic space and recently set tree just outside of the building. 

This year, the honored guests invited to light the tree were Pete and Edie Oftedahl of Osseo. 

Dean Eide, vice president of the facility, was present to speak to the crowd of attendees, referring to the ceremony as “a time to celebrate and remember.” Eide introduced the Oftedahls as well as the local Girl Scout troop, who entertained by singing popular Christmas tunes.

As they headed outside, the crowd gathered to watch the Oftedahls, with Eide, plug in the lights and officially spark the Love Light tree into its natural state of colored and white lights of commemoration for the season.

“We were honored to do it,” Edie Oftedahl said. “You never think you really deserve it. We feel very proud we were asked.”

Community members honor different people in their lives through specific color designations, with one color to honor service members, another to commemorate people still affecting their lives in a positive way and white, for those who have meant much to them, but have passed away.

Described as an annual fundraiser, the event gives area residents the chance to purchase those lights which will shine outside of the well-known structure. It is also an opportunity to raise awareness of the Mayo hospice program, which is the recipient of the money raised through the program.

This year, more than 1,200 people across northwest Wisconsin donated to the Love Light program.

The Oftedahls said they were surprised and honored to be chosen as the guests to light the tree. Edie has been a volunteer with the nursing home and shared her feelings of pride and gratitude that the Osseo community is able to have such a state-of-the-art facility.

“The hospital is a very important thing for us,” Edie Oftedahl said. “We’re blessed and so we’re just so happy to be a part of it. I enjoy being with the people.”

Her husband agreed, noting the growth of the facility as a positive for residents who either work at Mayo Clinic Health System or may need their services at some point in their lives.

“The hospital is a big asset to the community and to the people,”  Pete Oftedahl said. “We’re just happy that it’s here and is expanding.”

Another part of the evening included the reception of refreshments, which gave those in attendance the chance to make small talk while taking in the newly unveiled hospice quilt. 

Every year, there is a quilt made with the names of those who have passed away. The unveiling of the 2013 list was a vibrant work of green, with squares of flowers along the border.

Once the 2014 year has concluded, work will begin on the year’s list and the quilt will be unveiled during the 2015 ceremony.

Other facilities shared their own tree lighting throughout the initial week of December and will be part of the effort to fundraise for Mayo Clinic Health System to continue their hospice work.

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In September 2013, Cooke was hired as the editor of both the Augusta Area Times and the Tri-County News. She can be reached via ateditor@media-md.net or (715) 597-3313. Follow us on Twitter or check out our Facebook page for more updates!