Best Festival ever attracts record crowds

Posted December 21, 2009
The 14th Annual Festival of Trees at Opportunity Village attracted record crowds to celebrate being "Home for the Holidays" with family and friends.

Approximately 350 people attended the gala Opening Night, with its fabulous buffet of hearty appetizers and desserts.  Of course, not everyone came for the food; the first ones in the door made a beeline for the trees, to get that "sold" sign on their favorite tree.

Nostalgic toys on tree
The Best of Show this year was a nostalgic seven-foot tree decorated by Cindy Richardson and her daughter Angie Lundberg.  They collected vintage toys from the Village General Store over the past two years, in order to decorate the tree with memories from Christmas past.

Over 100 trees of all sizes, wreaths, and swags dazzled the crowd with displays of creativity.  The Village provides the trees and recruits individuals and businesses from the area to decorate items, which then are sold at the Festival.  All proceeds support services for people with disabilities at Opportunity Village.

Saturday is family day, starting with Breakfast With Santa.  The Clear Lake Knights of Columbus flipped an estimated 4,000 pancakes for the breakfast.  This year, the breakfast was served in the new production area of the Kinney-Lindstrom Activity Center, which allowed more seating.  After Breakfast, guests could join in Santa's Workshop of free craft activities or visit the Secret Shop, especially for kids to shop for their families.  The tree displays also were open all day, with live seasonal music provided by local talent.

On Sunday, the Cookie Walk sold out in a hurry, as people filled boxes with homemade treats.  Then they browsed the tree displays until the close of the Festival.

Thanks so much to our sponsors, who made this event a success:  Dean Snyder Construction, Corporate Farmer, Stifel Nicolaus, HyVee East, CL Tel, Lake Dental Associates, and Master Floors Carpet One.

Hundreds of other donors, volunteers, and staff contributed to the weekend.  The Festival raised an estimated $35,000 for the Village.  But the biggest reward comes in giving entertainment back to the community and welcoming new visitors to the Village!

View our photo album from the 2009 Festival of Trees.