Hospital Auxiliary celebrates largest Festival of Tables event in 11 years

FESTIVAL OF TABLES COMMITEE The Festival of Tables Committee for 2024 included tri-chairs Lori Lair, Sandy Finley and Susan Johnson, and members Deb Buck, Nancy Westphal, Julie Thompson, Janann Langer, Kay Oberle and Sue Gasney. 8dc81099-6697-417f-bd0c-a20d66272fb9

When the committee for the annual Festival of Tables fundraiser first met to plan the 11th installment of the luncheon, they weren’t sure they’d be able to have the event.

Julie Thompson, member of the Owatonna Hospital Auxiliary and first-time volunteer for the Festival of Tables committee, said the concern came partially from the rebuilding of the event since the COVID-19 pandemic, but even more from the lack of volunteers.

“If people didn’t step up, we wouldn’t be able to put this event together,” Thompson said. “So a group of us decided to go for it.”

Much to their delighted surprise, the committee welcomed more than 200 guests to the luncheon Tuesday at the Owatonna Country Club — the largest the event has ever been in its history.

“The support from the individuals and businesses in this community is honestly overwhelming,” Thompson said. “This wouldn’t happen without that support, just like most everything in town.”

Following tradition, the Festival of Tables showcased host tables decorated to fit whatever theme the hostess elected to go with that year.

The evening prior to the event, Auxiliary President Deb Buck said it was fun to watch all the hostesses come in with their totes of decor, changing the plain tables inside the country club to elaborate designs with themes ranging from the Wild Wild West to Wonderland.

Barb Beck hosted her first table this year, which she called “Friends in a Succulent Garden.” She adorned it with her own personal collection of mushrooms and gnomes and detailed the table “when you plant a garden, some little friends have to come and visit.”

“I’m already planning my theme for next year,” Beck laughed. “And I already have one guest.”

Buck said the committee was also mindful of the number of individuals who would like to attend the fundraiser, but do not know any of the hostesses and are unsure of how to be invited. This was made possible, she said, by the OCC agreeing to rent out the entire facility to the event this year, also allowing them to expand the wine cellar and auction item area, both of which needed extra space due to the increased support from community donors.

Since 2016 the event has raised money for the Auxiliary Scholarship Program through the Owatonna Hospital, supporting individuals wishing to study in the health care fields. In 2023, the auxiliary gifted nearly $22,000 in scholarships to 11 students.

Prior scholarship recipients Derek Schelling and Molly Busho gave a brief message of thanks and how the scholarships impacted their lives. Schelling is currently a physical therapist at Courage Kenny through the hospital in Owatonna, and Busho is a registered nurse also at the Owatonna Hospital.

While Schelling had applied for the scholarship early in his education journey, Busho applied and received a scholarship in 2020 when she decided to complete her masters. Both speakers said they have enjoyed being able to work in the very community that supported them to get where they are today.

Prior to 2016, the event raised money for domestic violence patient care, televisions and protective cases in the emergency department for patients in crisis, beds for the now-closed Sleep Center, and the purchase of massage tables for the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing at the hospital.

With a record-breaking event now in the books, Buck and other auxiliary members encouraged those in the room to consider volunteering and joining the auxiliary, currently sitting at 116 members, both male and female.

Buck read from the description of Rhonda Hartle’s table, “Angels Among Us,” as a “perfect example” of what the auxiliary has strived to do since its inception in 1957.

“To make a difference is not a matter of accident, a matter of casual occurrence of tides. People choose to make a difference,” Buck read. “Our resolute Owatonna Hospital Auxiliary volunteers are willing to give of their time and are clearly the ‘angels among us,’ today and throughout the year. Sometimes miracles are simply good people with kind hearts.”