Yuletree Jubilee to bring Christmas cheer to West Side

Nov. 14, 2018 | Jordan Houston
jordan@thereminder.com

The Balise Toyota Showroom will be hosting the fourth annual Yuletree Jubilee from Nov. 23 to Dec. 9
Reminder Publishing submitted photo

WEST SPRINGFIELD – It’s that time of the year again. Avid Christmas lovers are blasting their favorite holiday tunes, Target and other shopping centers are boasting impressive Christmas displays and the last of the leaves are finally falling. Christmas is around the corner – and soon, it will begin to look a lot like Christmas at the West Springfield Balise Toyota Showroom. The car dealership is gearing up for its Fourth Annual Yuletree Jubilee in partnership with the Red Thread Network (RTN).

From Nov. 23 to Dec. 9, the RTN will present 40 trees – decorated and donated by local business, organizations and individuals – at the Balise Toyota Showroom located on 1399 Riverdale St. The trees will be displayed for visitors to observe for 17 days before being raffled off to 40 lucky winners.

“I think it’s very exciting because the aesthetics of it is amazing, and every year it’s amazing how creative people can be,” said RTN Co-Founder Christine Costanzi. “When you see children coming to see all the lights and all the trees, it’s great. We also have reached out to 53 local nursing and assisted living facilities. They bus their residents over to see the trees – which is so cool.”

Admission to get into the tree festival is free, however, guests can pay to enter the raffle for a chance to win one of the 40 trees – along with the gifts that accompany them. The RTN is charging attendees $10 for 25 “chances” to distribute to the trees of their choice. The money raised from the raffle will go toward supporting the RTN, which is a non-profit organization geared toward promoting community arts in a supportive environment through education and advocacy.

Some of the donors for this year’s Yuletree Jubilee include Balise Auto, Bertelli Liquor Mart, Cancer House of Hope, MercyLife, Longhorn Steakhouse, the West Springfield Rotary Club, the West Springfield School Committee and Unify Against Bullying.

Each of the donors will decorate their trees, according to a theme of their choice, and include gifts underneath.

“Individuals or businesses will buy a tree and decorate it, but then have gifts that go with it. Often times – in fact 85 percent of the time – they will have a theme. Most times, businesses will use it as a team-building experience,” added Costanzi. “It’s also great marketing – their name is where their tree is. They have a flyer or a sign that has their name on it and lists what they do. So, we don’t charge to submit a tree, but they don’t get paid for it either.”

While the festival of trees offers a beautiful display of glitz and glamour, and speaks to the generosity of the holiday spirit, it also seeks to support local businesses, authors and artists.

The RTN will be presenting a creative market, titled “Ladies Night Out Creative Market,” several dance and musical performances and book signings from local authors.

Despite the title, the Ladies Night Out Creative Market is open to both men and women and will feature local vendors showcasing their “creative talents.” The vendors will offer sale items, demonstrations and make-it-and-take-it tables.

This is the first year the RTN will be hosting the market. It will take place on both Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m.

“In the past, we noticed women going out in groups on Thursdays, so we thought, ‘Let’s elaborate on that a little bit,’ and started having a glass-painting class right there in the showroom where the trees are. We started with wine glasses and then glass Christmas tree ornaments,” said the RTN co-founder. “This year, I came up with the idea of having a little market for men or women who have some type of project they create that they want to sell.”

The projects for guests will cost less than $10, explained Costanzi, while admission for participating vendors is free.

Book signings with local authors Linda Cardillo, Tena Williams and Katherine Mary Kraver will be offered at the dealership on Dec. 1 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Lastly, featured performances from the Cassin Dance Academy, the Community Music School and the Alice Moore Bell Choir will be featured at the festival throughout the two weeks.

All of these additional aspects of the Yuletree Jubilee speak to the RTN’s larger mission statement, Costanzi explained.

“Every year, I try to go to somebody else’s festival of trees to support them,” she said. “I think what sets us apart, is that we try to really keep with our arts and culture theme. While not every tree in the showroom has that theme, the fundraising, the entertainment and the creative market are all still trying to stay within that theme.”

The RTN came about as a response to the Terriers around Town project, in which Costanzi and her business partner, Jane Barrientos, decorated the town with its beloved statues. The organization seeks to support West Side artists who are active in the arts and who wish to have a way to promote the arts. The funds from the Terriers around Town project supported children’s art classes through the West Springfield Parks and Rec department, the hiring of West Springfield artists to teach the classes and a donation to the West Springfield Boys and Girls Club.

“Our mission statement is ‘Collaborate, commerce, community and culture.’ We found that when we did our original project [the Terriers around Town project], a lot of businesses didn’t realize how many artists were in the area,” said Costanzi. “We wanted to enrich the cultural experience of living in West Springfield because we have such a diverse demographic.”

The Yuletree Jubilee will begin on Nov. 23 and end on Dec. 9 at the Balise Toyota Showroom, located on 1399 Riverdale St. in West Springfield. The festival of trees will be open to the public during the showroom’s business hours. The raffle will take place on the last day of the festival.

For more information about the festival, contact Costanzi at cstnzmc@comcast.netor or visit the RTN Yuletree Jubilee Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RedThreadNetwork/

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