Nov 22, 2012


Photo: Villages Beautiful Committee- organizers of the annual Festival of Trees in Sharbot Lake, l-r, Doris Campsall, Barb England, Patsy Lowery, Linda West, Sally Angle, Brenda Repaye, Pearl Robinson and Dee Riddell, (absent - Ann Howard).

It is thanks to a small group of dedicated green thumbs that the 12th Annual Festival of Trees will once again be marking the start of the holiday season in Sharbot Lake, and this year’s celebration promises to be bigger and better than ever.

The group, who goes by the name Villages Beautiful, began the seasonal holiday extravaganza 12 years ago as their primary fundraiser. Proceeds from the festival are used to purchase and plant the numerous flowers, trees, shrubs and signs that Villages Beautiful uses to beautify the villages and hamlets of Central Frontenac in the summer season.

Thinking of this past summer’s drought, one can imagine the tireless efforts of the group and their volunteers, who put in countless hours to keep all the flowers and gardens well watered in an exceptionally hot and dry summer.

More recently, the group has been meeting regularly for the last few weeks, finalizing plans for this year’s festival and organizers are adding something new to the celebrations. Sparking off the event at 6pm on Thursday December 6 will be a tree lighting ceremony at Oso hall. Decorations coordinator Dee Riddell, along with the other seven members of the committee, decided this year that a tree lighting ceremony would be a great way to kick off the annual event. “We wanted to do something different this year,” Dee said.

Two of the large blue spruce trees in front of the Oso Hall are going to be hung with 175 lights each thanks to the help of a crane and bucket truck from the North Frontenac Telephone Company, and local dignitaries including Central Frontenac's mayor and town crier will be in attendance.

This year’s theme, which is “A Down East Christmas”, no doubt has entrants searching for motifs and decorative items that best exemplify an east coast seasonal holiday. Local businesses and individuals are once again invited to purchase, enter and decorate items in a number of different seasonal categories, which include large and small Christmas trees, wreaths, gift baskets, wall hangings, the “Anything Goes” category and gingerbread creations. Visitors to the festival will be able to purchase raffle tickets and vie for the entries that most meet their fancy, all of which will be raffled off at the event. A panel of judges will be ranking the entries and pinning ribbons to the most outstanding ones.

As usual, the festival organizers have lined up an impressive list of local entertainers who will be filling the hall with seasonal sounds over the three days of the event, which takes place from Thursday December 6 through to Saturday December 8. On this year’s roster are the beloved country band the Old Habits; music by the multi-talented Jim MacPherson, Garry Giller, Terry Reynolds and Dave Limber; piano music by Stanley Stinchcombe; local high school rockers HD Supply; the 30-member Blue Skies Fiddle Orchestra; the always impeccable Arden Glee Club; and the heart-warming Young Choristers; as well as performances by the Land O'Lakes Cloggers and the Sharbot Lake Line Dancers.

Other events include the festival’s opening luncheon on Thursday at noon at the Sharbot Lake Country Inn (tickets can be purchased at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy and Gray's Grocery). Admission to the festival is free and in lieu of a fee, visitors are asked to bring a non-perishable food or cash donation for the local food bank.

The eight committee members reminded me at their most recent meeting on November 19 that the year 2007 was the one and only year since its inception that the festival did not take place. Apparently there was such an outcry from the community that the event quickly resumed again the following year and has run every year since. This year, thanks to their hard work, the celebration will once again be a special one to remember. Watch out for a detailed list of the scheduled events in the next issue of the Frontenac news.

 

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