WESTBROOK – It’s Monday morning, and already volunteers are assembling and decorating artificial Christmas trees at Westbrook’s Warren Congregational Church, each one with a specific theme.
“I like monochromatic colors on a tree,” said Nicole Nappi, activities coordinator for Westbrook Housing, as she pointed to a box of garland, ornaments, and other traditional tree-trimming items, all colored silver and gold, to fit Nappi’s “Silver and Golden Years” theme.
Westbrook Housing is one of 45 different organizations sponsoring a tree for $100 as part of the church’s annual Festival of Trees event. The event, which kicks of this Saturday and runs through Dec. 10, has been an annual fundraiser for various local charities for more than a decade now. The festival, and most of its activities, is free to the public, but donations are always welcome.
In addition to the tree exhibit, popular highlights will include breakfast with Santa on Saturday, performances from the Celebration Choir of Scarborough and the Westbrook High School Chamber Choir, and the Tips for Charity luncheon on Dec. 9, where local public figures will act as wait staff to the public.
The festival’s goal from the start has been to raise money for local charities. Last year, the festival raised $9,480, and in total past festivals have raised $76,250.
On Monday, Westbrook Housing was joined by Camp Sunshine, which is also decorating a tree. Ruth Shadbolt, a volunteer with the camp, said the tree is actually sponsored by the Westbrook Rotary Club, which asked for volunteers to help decorate at the last minute, and Shadbolt volunteered.
“They don’t even know I’m doing it yet,” she said of the camp, as she hung various bright yellow ornaments from the tree’s branches.
“I don’t think they’ll mind at all,” said Anita Higgins, a church volunteer who was helping Shadbolt hang the ornaments.
Downstairs, Mary Brooking was hanging garland on her own tree. A local artist, Brooking said she just recently started teaching part time, and thought the festival could serve as an impromptu gallery.
“My students needed a place, and it just seemed so perfect,” she said, explaining that reproductions of her students’ work will appear on the tree when it’s done.
Another favorite component of the festival is the “Days of Trains” event, where local model railroad enthusiast Paul Corbett, together with the Maine Garden Railway Society, put on a display of electric trains. Corbett said he has been bringing displays to the festival for the past eight years, always with a different theme.
This year, Corbett is setting up in a room in the basement, laying track for what he said will be a “Cowboys and Indians” themed setup. It will include, he said, a full Indian village in the Colorado mountains, “but no warfare. This is Christmas.”
Corbett, who has been a model train fan for the past 30 years, said he gets a good crowd of visitors every year, averaging about 500-600 people.
The scale, he said, is slightly larger than the traditional model railroad scale, because it’s easier for viewers to see. Corbett said he loves sitting on one side of the display, and watching children’s eyes pop as they watch from the other side.
“That’s half the fun of it,” he said.
Corbett’s trains will be on display every day of the festival except Wednesday, Dec. 7. For a viewing schedule, and details on all other festival events, visit the festival’s website at www.westbrookfestivaloftrees.com.
Ruth Shadbolt, a volunteer with Camp Sunshine, decorates a tree
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