Photo Gallery: Boys & Girls Club "Festival of Trees" Breaks Records

December 21th, 2015

STONEHAM/WAKEFIELD, Ma. — After hosting a successful, inaugural Festival of Trees Celebration last December, there were questions about how the 2nd annual Festival would compare to the first. Last Friday, the Boys & Girls Club of Stoneham and Wakefield saw an overwhelming support from sponsors and the community as the event did better in every aspect of the fundraiser than the year before including, attendance, number of sponsors involved and most importantly, funds raised.

Due to this outburst of support, the Boys & Girls Club was able to raise thousands of dollars, as over 50 trees from sponsors were on display for the hundreds that attended to see and bid on, and thanks to donations, the festival also offered a wide variety of raffle items including sports memorabilia and tickets, toys and local getaways such as ski trips. Some of the trees this year included Wakefield Rotary, Wakefield Drama Club, Stoneham Police, Stoneham Fire, and many more civic groups from both communities. The club also was able to make the event special for all the children that attended. Children in attended were given the chance to take free photos with Santa, Mrs. Claus, Elsa, Buddy the Elf, Elsa from Frozen, get their face painted, see the ginger bread houses on display created by them, as well as offering a variety of treats from local bakeries and restaurants.

When asked about the support the club got this year from sponsors, Executive Director Adam Rodgers had this to say, “To see all the local businesses, civic groups, individuals, and all our communities respond to the need of the kids in our communities, it definitely fills you with the holiday spirit.” After, Rodgers continued on the importance of our fundraisers. “Fundraisers like this are important because we only charge $25 a year for our members and will never turn a child away, however our programs cost $750 per child. So fundraising through events like this and our current brick and honor wall campaign makes up the difference.”

The Festival of Trees Celebration also showed success thanks to the incredible support from the Board of Directors and key board member Paula DiBartolomeo, who made this event possible. This year was also the first year the festival in Stoneham was combined with the festival held in Wakefield. “We’re very grateful for the work of Paula DiBartolomeo who has dedicated months to making this event a success, as well as Stacey Curran-Conway, who founded the event in Wakefield and made it a holiday tradition”, says Rodgers, “we were worried as this was the first year combining the Stoneham festival with the Wakefield festival, but the communities responded enthusiastically.”

Press Release by Danny Lumb, Program Director

For all the photos, click here.