Biannual Christmas Tree Festival

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Posted 2016-11-25 by Cecelia Hopkins ⇒ follow

Thu 24 Nov 2016 - Sat 26 Nov 2016

The Christmas Tree Festival is hosted by the Tea Tree Gully Uniting Church at 592-600 Milne Road, Banksia Park. The festival is a bi-annual event and runs from Thursday November 24 until Saturday November 26. Doors are open 9:30am to 8:00pm, Thursday and Friday; and 9:30am to 6:00pm on Saturday. The event is a joint initiative of Tea Tree Gully Uniting Church, St John's Lutheran Church, Tea Tree Gully and several other local churches. Modbury Floral Art Group, local schools and community children's groups have also contributed tree displays.

When you walk into the hall, you are greeted by friendly volunteers. A $2 donation is required and proceeds go to support the work of Christian Pastoral Care Workers in local schools. The foyer is full of bright displays, including a miniature snow village, a Christmas tree Children may write or draw upon, and a tree made of circles within which children may place an ornament.

For $1 you can guess the weight of a Christmas cake and another $1 allows you to guess how many ornaments are upon a Christmas tree. I guessed the weight of the cake, but I had no idea how to estimate the ornaments on the tree, so I held my peace! The display of trees in the hall was beautiful. Some trees were traditional, while others featured recycled materials. One tree was even made from an old Gearbox.

My personal favourite was a small tree to which lightweight books of the Bible had been tied, indicating the decorator's desire to put the "word" back into Christmas.

Some trees were embroidered, some were quilted and some were made out of buttons. There was also an extensive display of Nativity sets from around the world on loan from Judy Jaensch, who must be a serious collector.

When we had finished looking at the displays, we went into the hall on the other side of the building. This room contained a few extra trees and stalls of craft and produce. I bought a ring which had been cleverly made out of a button, and admired some quilting work. We went into a side room and had coffee and cake. $2 for a cup of coffee and $3 for a plate with three small cakes upon it.

The home-made cakes and slices were delicious and remember, all proceeds went to a good cause, the Christian Pastoral Care Workers who provide that bit of extra attention and support to children in schools regardless of the family religious affiliation.