Hi Melissa,

I work for the San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum in Lodi, CA.  This year marks the 20th year of our annual Festival of Trees event, it is our primary fundraiser for our education programs and brings in almost 3,000 over the weekend.  It is always held the first weekend in December and is organized by our Docents, but involves community members throughout the county.  Organizations and individuals from throughout the community decorate (artificial) Christmas trees in our seven exhibit buildings, each has a unique theme designed by the tree's sponsor.  Community members also create small exhibits for our exhibit cases in our main exhibit building.  The two day festival includes entertainment, food, photos with Santa, model trains, wagon rides, story telling, crafts (for sale and to make), and games for kids and adults of all ages.  We also has a volunteer that does blacksmith demonstrations in our blacksmith shop.  People come to Festival of Trees each year to add to their collection make and take crafts like hand-dipped candles, cornhusk dolls, and other activities that they love.  Each year something new is added, this year we are adding a small carnival/game area.  This is also the only weekend of the year that our Captain Charles Weber Cottage is open to the public (Captain Weber was the founder of the City of Stockton and the cottage was built in 1847).

This will be my third Festival of Trees, so I can't really tell you how it has evolved, but I can tell you it is our most popular fundraiser of the year.  Everybody gets into the holiday spirit, our Docents dress in Victorian clothing and some of our Docents/friends of the Museum also take on important characters in San Joaquin County's history.  It is amazing to me to see the Museum transformed into a "winter wonderland" in only two weeks.  Some of the changes made since I've been there involves protecting the collections... no moving of artifacts by anyone other myself or other authorized staff members, the use of artificial flowers only for decorations in the exhibit buildings, and the banning of flocked artificial Christmas trees.  If you'd like to see photos of our event you can go to our website, http://sanjoaquinhistory.org/news.php

Best of luck to you on your event!

Julie Blood
Collections & Exhibits Manager
SJC Historical Society & Museum

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