WORLAND - For 30 years the Pinnacle Bank has put on the Festival of Trees event, which generates money for local charities and non-profit organizations. The Festival of Trees event in December 2015 generated $23,790 and the money was distributed between many different local organizations. The Worland Community Center Complex (WCCC) is one of those local organizations who received a part of the $23,790.

The Worland Community Center Complex is using the money that they received from the Festival of Trees toward their security system. “We are using that money to upgrade our security system, our security cameras that we have throughout the building and this summer we will be having them on the roof, so we will be having them on the parking lot,” Worland Community Center Complex Executive Director Steve Hunt said.

According to the WCCC website, “The WCCC, is a joint powers board owned community center, once funded through a Washakie County general sales tax, program revenue, and to date, $3,081,248 in grant funding. The WCCC stopped receiving tax funding July 1, 2013. The WCCC seeks to benefit Washakie County through the improvement of social services, educational opportunities, recreational activities, family unification, health care and business growth. We have a state of the art conference training center and training classrooms, we offer community development, educational classes, health and fitness and youth and adult sports, all located in our facility.”

The WCCC houses eight tenants and has rooms available for rent for special events. According to the WCCC website, “The WCCC partners include the City of Worland, the Town of Ten Sleep, Washakie County, the Washakie Development Association, the Worland Senior Citizens Center and the Worland Rec Board. The WCCC houses the Tobacco Prevention Center, the University of Wyoming Washakie County Agricultural Extension, the State of Wyoming’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Workforce Services. The WCCC has two gymnasiums which are generally open throughout the day. The gymnasiums may be booked or reserved so call for availability. The WCCC provides many different sports activities for youth as well as adults, including, but not limited to: gymnastics, dance, karate, music, basketball, volleyball, soccer, flag football and softball.”

The Festival of Trees has partnered with the WCCC for many years. “We have partnered with them for probably 10 years, around 10 years. We store everything for them; it’s a lot of tree stands and equipment. We have the agreement that we keep everything here and they do it here. It works out well and is a great partnership. We love working with them and hopefully we can continue to do so in the future,” Hunt said. “It’s a great community program and great for everyone. It’s a really neat program,” he added.