The second annual Carnegie Library Museum Festival of Trees looks to nearly triple the number of decorated Christmas trees it will exhibit this year, jumping from 12 in 2014 to more than 30 if entries continue at their present pace.
Monday, Oct. 12 is the deadline to enter a tree in the festival. Details can be found here.
The holiday exhibition will run from Saturday, Nov. 21 to Sunday, Dec. 20. The event also serves as a fundraiser for the Carnegie, which receives no programming funding from the city of Perry and stages its events on a shoestring budget.
Carnegie Library Museum volunteer Laura Stebbins said she was pleased by the growth in entries but not altogether surprised.
“I guess I’d have expected some increase,” Stebbins said. “Last year was the first time, and it was a success. People like to wait and see.”
Stebbins and other Carnegie volunteers have been talking up the event since July, building on last year’s success and attracting more participants.
“Networking seems to somehow be more at work this year,” Stebbins said, “so that got more businesses involved from the get-go. Some people came to us even before the information went out.”
Growth was naturally expected and hoped for, she said, but its rate was a pleasant surprise.
“I personally haven’t done that much differently from last year,” Stebbins said. “Hard to know!”
The deadline for entering a tree in the 2015 Carnegie Library Museum Festival of Trees is Monday, Oct. 12. For more information or to enter a tree, contact the Perry City Hall at 515-465-2481.
The provisional list of local tree decorators includes about 30 individuals, businesses and civic and religious groups.
