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The Festival of the Trees will take place in Statesboro from Nov. 16 – 21. For the week leading up to Saturday the 21st, decorated trees will be on display for students, faculty and staff to view at their leisure.
Festival Director Kelly Pye said, “It is a fundraising event hosted by the Continuing Education Center to assist Christmas in the Boro, an organization that provides Christmas gifts to local children in need.”
The festival is an event designed to display decorated Christmas trees and to help raise money for charity as well.
Pye said, “The idea behind this event to provide a fun and enjoyable event for our entire community to get into the holiday spirit and help local children in need at the same time.”
“We will have trees on display in a variety of sizes and styles ranging from 2-12 feet,” said Pye. Then will be on display starting Monday, Nov. 16.
Janice Reynolds, program development special t for the continuing education center, said that the festival is used to raise money for the local charity, Christmas in the Boro.
There will also, she said, be a box set up in the building where people can drop off unwrapped toys for the charity Toys for Tots.
The festival will be In the Atrium and Concourse of the Nessmith-Lane Continuing Education Building, which is located on the corner of Chandler Road and Plant Drive.
The event will include a raffle for the decorated 7-foot trees, which were donated by Lowe’s. The trees, valued at $2,000, will be available as a prize for $1raffle tickets.
Charlotte Parrish-Woody, the director of marketing for the division of continuing education and public service said, “Last year we raised over $1,100 from donations made through tree raffles. [This year] our goal is to raise $3,000 through the raffle ticket sales.”
During the week leading up to the festival, there will be several days in which the trees and gingerbread houses will be available for viewing at the location, according to Pye.
She said the times that the building is open to visitors will be Monday - Saturday 1-6 p.m. Friday 1-8 p.m., and Saturday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
The raffle will be Saturday at 6 p.m., but people do not have to be present at the drawing in order to win.
Saturday, the day of the festival, will feature a number of vendors selling various items, live music and children’s activities sponsored by the Statesboro Regional Library.
Aside from attending the event and making charitable donations, another way that students, faculty and staff can get involved is by making a gingerbread house.
Pye said, “We also have a gingerbread village that is free of charge and open to anyone that would like to display their creation. They just need to call me [at (912) 478-7977 and reserve a space.”
For more information on the Festival of Trees, please visit http://ceps.georgiasouthern.edu/conted/festivaloftrees.html.
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