Love Light Tree Honors 192, Remembers 527

Nearly 200 community members are being honored and over 500 loved ones remembered on this year’s Love Light Tree, sponsored by the North Oaks Medical Center Guild, according to the organization’s president and project chairperson Gladys Bordonaro.

The 22-foot Love Light Tree, which is located in front of North Oaks Diagnostic Center in Hammond, came to life Thursday, Dec. 6 during a tree lighting ceremony and reception attended by more than 100 community members from 4:30-5:30 p.m.

“Since its beginning 20 years ago, the Love Light Tree has served as a holiday tradition and symbol of the community’s unity during the holidays,” Bordonaro shares. “Each light also represents a donation of $3 or more that will be used to help the Guild support projects, such as our Hospice Patient and Social Services Samaritan Funds.

In addition to the traditional reading of all names for whom lights shine, the ceremony featured musical performances by soloist Crystal Gonzalez, a 14-year-old freshman at Hammond High School, and the Voice of the Northshore Girls Chorale, under the direction of John Bostic of Hammond. Gonzalez, who has participated in the lighting ceremony as a soloist for the past 4 years, sang “O, Holy Night” and joined with the chorale later in the program to lead a sing-a-long of “Silent Night.”

Making their first appearance at the Love Light ceremony, Voice of the Northshore was established in February 2007 to provide area high school students with the chance to increase their musical skills and knowledge through performance, according to Bostic. Since their formation, they have performed throughout Tangipahoa Parish at a variety of events, including Independence Day celebrations and basketball tournaments. In addition to leading the sing-a-long with Gonzalez during the program, the chorale performed, “Mary, Did You Know?” Other selections performed before the program and during the reception included, “What Child is This” and “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming.”

Bordonaro emceed the program with names read by North Oaks Physician Services Liaison Tammy Chauff, Volunteer Services Director Melissa Dufour, Volunteer Services Coordinator Malissa Gonzalez, Gift Shop Coordinator Katrinka Lopinto and Chief Operating Officer Michele Kidd Sutton. Dufour also read the poem, “I’m Spending Christmas with Jesus this Year,” before the reading of names in remembrance.

The Love Light Tree will shine on the North Oaks Medical Center campus through King’s Day, Jan. 6, 2008.

The North Oaks Medical Center Guild is an organization comprised of members who are interested in being of service to North Oaks Health System through fundraising activities. Funds generated by events, such as semi-annual bake sales and the Love Light Tree project during the Christmas season, help support the health system and the communities it serves through the Guild’s Samaritan Funds and the purchase of hospital equipment ranging from sophisticated vascular Doppler machines to rocking chairs for various patient care areas. Guild membership is open to all interested persons for a fee of $5 per year or $25 for a lifetime.

To learn more about the Love Light Tree or to join the North Oaks Medical Center Guild, please call North Oaks Volunteer Services at (985) 230-6647.