A Tree That Belongs To The Children

By Shannon Hicks

On Saturday, December 4, a small evergreen tree set up in the side courtyard at C.H. Booth Library in Newtown became the center of attention for a few hours. The tree has become “The Children’s Tree,” and it is covered with hundreds of individually hand-made ornaments by the children of Newtown.

“The Children’s Tree” was the name of a workshop hosted by Newtown Montessori School and the library last weekend. Children of all ages were invited to visit the library’s courtyard to add their own touches to base ornaments. Foam letters and pinecones were decorated with glue, glitter, beads and other adornments from 10 am to 2 pm Saturday afternoon.

The free workshop was being offered for the first time this year, and it was a very popular event. Co-chairmen and Montessori School ambassadors Wendy Janesky and Leslie Bray were at the library on Saturday, helping with suggestions for the children and welcoming their parents. Thanks to some very unseasonable weather, the workshop was conducted entirely outside. Children were able to work at the long tables that had been set up for them and then walk right over to the tree and hang their decorations themselves.

The four-hour workshop was a continuous buzz of activity. Some children even received permission from their parents to go back to the workshop a second time to make more ornaments. It is estimated that over 200 children attended and participated.

“I’ve heard lots of good comments this week,” Booth Library children’s librarian Alana Meloni said. “The children really enjoyed it,” she continued. “I’ve talked to some of the children who participated, and they take a lot of pride in the fact that they helped put it together.

“Others have stopped in, and these are people who weren’t able to take part this year, and they now stop to look not only at the dollhouse in the entryway, but the tree, too.”

For the workshop this year, Montessori School brought in a fresh tree that had been cut specifically for the library courtyard. Ms Meloni has spoken with the workshop co-chairmen and said this week that there is a good possibility that not only will “The Children’s Tree” become an annual event at the library, but a permanent tree might be planted in the courtyard for the children to decorate in future years. Montessori still needs to clear the idea with library director Janet Woycik, but Ms Meloni is already behind it.

“As far as I’m concerned, that’s a fine idea,” she said this week.