GREENFIELD — For the first time, the Festival of Trees is being held at Wilson’s Department Store — not Yankee Candle — and, according to organizers, it’s symbolic.
“We had been looking to bring the event closer, to bring it to downtown Greenfield,” said Brian Smith, from the YMCA and with the Kiwanis Club of Greenfield.
“It gives us a chance to reimagine the event and keep it among our neighbors,” Smith said.
The Festival of Trees is in its fourth year. A charity event, the Festival of Trees takes “donations” from area businesses and families. Each donation is in the form of a small artificial Christmas tree decorated with prizes and uniquely themed according to the givers’ wishes.
From Friday, when the event kicked off on Wilson’s third floor, until Dec. 14, the public is invited to walk among the trees on Fridays and Saturdays, and buy raffle tickets in a bid to win their favorites. Money collected throughout the Festival will then be donated in the form of local grants.
“People get creative,” said Smith, gesturing toward the “Boozetree” by Ninja and Co. — the tree’s branches were liquor bottles, the branches themselves being the tree’s prizes. “There’s something different, unique each year.”
Dozens of trees were set up at the Festival Saturday, with more expected to come in, according to April Healey, event founder and member of the Franklin County Rotary Club.
The event is put on as a collaboration between the Kiwanis Club and the Franklin County Rotary Club, Healey said, and is expected to draw first-time visitors this year in its new location. The event was moved due to lack of availability at Yankee Candle.
“People love the opportunity to win something, but they also want to support the local area,” she said.
“Now that we’re downtown, a lot of businesses that would have been here in the past are here,” Healey added, explaining that organizers are also encouraging visitors to shop locally, giving them a chance to win gift cards if they present a receipt showing they shopped in downtown Greenfield before going to the Festival.
Raffle tickets are $1 each, and are placed in boxes next to whatever tree the ticket-holder would like to win. Bundles of 25 raffle tickets are sold for $20.
The trees at Wilson’s have a wide range of themes, including a tree from the Kiwanis Club with children’s books written by Roald Dahl or Dr. Seuss and a tree with a variety of rubber ducks as prizes, called “Rubber Ducky Dreams” and donated by Toni Manning.
Other trees include items like UMass hockey tickets, candles, Netflix cards, gift cards and scratch tickets — and many local businesses like Mesa Verde, Franklin First Federal Credit Union, Alber Hearing Services and Hope & Olive donated.
“The value of these trees is enormous,” said Healey, noting that winners of certain trees will be taking home several hundred dollars’ worth of prizes. “We have many new sponsors, and the returning sponsors we have tell us it’s worthwhile.”
In the past, the Festival of Trees organizers have announced the recipients of money raised up front — last year, money went to the United Way of Franklin County, and the year before Big Brothers Big Sisters of Franklin County and the Sheriff’s Office’s Regional Dog Shelter received $20,000 from the event.
This year, however, organizers are not announcing the recipients until January. A committee has been formed and collected applications from different local organizations for grant programs, and will decide where the money should go. Applicants are being kept secret for now, Smith said, adding that the Festival of Trees followed the same set-up in its first year.
“We’ve gone back to the way it was done first, and there’s some satisfaction with that,” Smith said. “Both clubs (Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs) are committed to Greenfield and the Franklin County community, so this event is a natural fit with how service connects to our missions.”
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.