Honor Flight Christmas Tree to be auctioned one last time

It all began in October 2014 when Cambria’s two young enterprising cinematographers, Kyle and Carlos Plummer, then ages 18 and 13 respectively, had just completed a Tour of Honor with the newly formed Honor Flight Central Coast California. The boys filmed all aspects of the flight that transported 21 local veterans to Washington, D.C. Their documentary of the flight, called “Tour of Honor,” went on to win multiple film festival awards.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the program, Honor Flight is a national nonprofit organization created solely to honor America’s veterans for their sacrifices. We transport our heroes, at no cost to them, to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans — World War II survivors along with those other veterans who may be suffering from a terminal illness.

The Honor Flight Central Coast California chapter was started in 2014. Since that date, we have completed 10 flights to transport more than 200 veterans to Washington. Sixteen of those veterans are from Cambria, and by next summer we expect add former U.S . Army Staff Sgt. Shannon McNamara and USMC Sgt. Bruce Marchese to that list.

Once home, you would think the Plummer boys would have shut it down for a while. Never happened. Just about the time they had unpacked, one of them heard about the upcoming Cambria Festival of the Trees auction. They immediately decided to enter a tree and then donate the proceeds to Honor Flight. After cajoling their parents to drive them to Home Depot, they sought out the store manager and somehow managed to get Home Depot to donate a 7-foot fully lit Christmas tree. Once home, the tree was decorated and entered into the auction.

In December 2014 the tree was originally purchased by Cathy Wilson. Once again, you would think that would be the end of the story. Nope. After the holidays Cathy donated the tree back so it could be auctioned off the next year. This pattern has continued over the past three years where it has been purchased — sometimes by multiple patrons on the same evening — and then sent back to be auctioned off again. Multiple local veterans have been recipients of what the Plummer brothers started in 2014.

We hope you will be able to attend the Festival of the Trees on Nov. 30 and marvel at the everlasting Honor Flight tree, decorated once again by Tina Quaschnick, for the last time. We highly recommend you purchase your tickets in advance at the Chamber of Commerce. Admission includes dinner, entertainment, and of course the auction.

This story was originally published November 22, 2017 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Honor Flight Christmas Tree to be auctioned one last time."