Festival Of  Trees Needs

Some Seedlings

By Shannon Hicks

The Festival of Trees portion of this year’s Annual Holiday Festival is less like a forest of creativity and more like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree right now. The donations are thin.

“We have tried to kick this [portion of the festival] into high gear but could definitely use all of the help we can,” festival co-organizer Nancy Obremski said. “We need donations of items, or even money for items and we will but and decorate a tree in a company or individual’s name.”

The 16th Annual Newtown Holiday Festival will be on Sunday, December 2, from 11 am to 5 pm. Events are centered around Main Street Newtown and include a walking tour of some of the immediate area’s historic and/or significant homes, businesses, and churches, each of which are decorated for the event by local florists and nurseries. The festival is set within the Main Street/Borough district so that many people can walk between the attractions, adding to the community spirit of the event. Approximately 2,000 people attended the event last year.

The Festival of Trees is an event that in years past has included dozens of decorated trees, wreaths, and theme baskets decorated by individuals, groups such as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, families, and companies. Area businesses have also participated in recent years by donating gift items and gift certificates for goods or services.

The Festival of Trees committee is still accepting donations for the Festival of Trees. Donations can be live (must be balled), artificial, stuffed, ceramic, wood, confections, or whatever other creations one can design, including wreaths.  All trees must include some type of stand to make them freestanding.

An RSVP contract must be completed and sent to the Family Counseling Center, Inc, 121 Mount Pleasant Road, Newtown, CT 06470. Drop-off time will be Saturday, December 1, between 10 am and 1 pm, at the library’s community room.

Visitors to this event not only enjoy the creativity of their friends and neighbors, but also vie through silent bidding or raffle to win the tree of their choice to take home at the conclusion of the festival.

The last few years of the Festival of Trees has seen winners determined through a silent auction. This year the event will return to the teacup raffle format. Visitors to the event will be able to purchase tickets, write their names and phone number on the reverse of each ticket, and then place tickets in cups that correspond to the trees, wreaths, etc of their choice. Winners will be selected at 4 pm on December 2, and winners will be contacted if they are not present at the time of the drawings.

The festival also offers strolling musicians, live music presented in Edmond Town Hall’s Alexandria Room and other locations, and live ballet performances in the town hall’s auditorium.

Additional features include an arts and crafts show, an antiques show, a family workshop, and two refreshments locations – a Victorian Tea room, which serves scones, similar baked goods, and various teas and punch, and The New England Café, with pizza, soft drinks, and comparable lighter fare.

The Holiday Festival is the major fundraiser for Family Counseling Center (FCC), an accredited United Way agency located at 121 Mount Pleasant Road in Newtown. The money raised through the festival helps the center provide access to affordable outpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment for individuals of all ages and families.

For information concerning any aspect of the holiday festival, especially if interested in volunteering for the planning stages or to work during the event, contact Lynne Brault at 270-9741 or LynRonB@aol.com; or Nancy Obremski at 364-0597 or NaObrem@aol.com. The Family Counseling Center can be contacted by calling 426-8103.