The Port Jefferson Festival of Trees is underway at Port Jefferson Village Center, featuring 30 decorated trees sponsored by local businesses, nonprofits and residents through Jan. 2.
For at least five years, the Greater Jefferson Chamber of Commerce has encouraged businesses, nonprofits and others to decorate their own 6-foot-tall trees in the Village Center.
Opened in 2005, the Village Center offers social, recreational and educational opportunities through the Department of Recreation, according to its website.
“One would hope it’s just another reason to come to the village and experience our village as a whole,” said Chamber Director of Operations Barbara Ransome. “It’s been around for a while, at least 10 years, but the Chamber has been actively involved for at least five.”
The Festival of Trees works alongside traditions such as the annual Charles Dickens Festival to create a holiday atmosphere at the Village Center. It also encourages residents to shop locally, Ransome said.
“We send out a call to action. It’s open to anyone; it doesn’t have to be a Chamber member,” Ransome said. “We had one mother who wanted to decorate a special tree for her son. Besides local businesses, we have NY Blood, some banks, a church. It’s a wide-ranging grouping of sponsors.”
According to Ransome, there has been no difficulty in finding sponsors to decorate trees on the second and third floors of the Village Center. The Chamber expanded to the third floor to accommodate participation.
Visitors to the Village Center at 101 E. Broadway will find 30 trees, which are set up by the village and decorated with white lights. The Village Center is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Participants are asked to choose a theme related to their organization. Ransome cited examples including a tree decorated with a mini terrarium and pine cone ornaments by the Suwassett Garden Club.
“One year someone did a tree upside down. The library cut out figures; it was very, very clever what they did,” she said. She also recalled a hardware store using items such as screws and nuts for ornaments, and an accountant who rolled paper to resemble money.
She added, “Especially if you have a business; some have tables where people can pick up on collateral marketing material. It helps to market those particular businesses.”
The Festival of Trees raises up to $300 per tree and serves as a fundraiser for both the Chamber and the village.
According to Ransome, the goal is to “create some level of activation in our business community, so when people come to shop, they can experience this lovely setup, and there’s no charge.”
Ransome said decorative snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and the ice-skating rink add to the atmosphere.
“The Village Center has beautiful snowflakes that hang down from (the) ceiling that adds to the experience, as well as the ice-skating rink so it complements everything. Another reason for wanting to spend time in the village,” she said.
The Chamber’s next scheduled event is the mac ’n’ cheese crawl on Jan. 24-25.
“It’s the only crawl we do for two days,” Ransome said. Tickets are not yet available, but the event typically sells out.
Visit the Chamber’s website for further details.