Meredith Altrusa sees successful 24th Festival of Trees

To The Daily Sun,

Altrusa International of Meredith is very grateful to the community for the many ways our friends and neighbors helped to make our 24th annual Festival of Trees a success.

Thanks to Tim and Jill Noe for hosting the Festival at the Waukewan Golf Club. Special thanks to our corporate sponsors: Platinum “PLUS” ($250+): Heart and Hand Thrift Store and Lovering Volvo Cars, Meredith; Platinum ($150): Cerutti Builders and Mary Anne Skawinski; Gold ($100): EnergySavers, Inc., Keepsake Quilting & Pineapple Fabrics, LBR Geothermal Services LLC, Roche Realty, Starr Realty, Wireless Zone/Verizon & Wescott Law, PA (Meredith and Laconia); Silver ($50 - $75): 48 Main Street Café & Creperie, Bank of New Hampshire/Moultonborough, Circle Dental and Moultonborough Lions Club.

We are grateful for our Friends of Christmas: Aubuchon Hardware/Moultonborough, Lynn Leighton/Annie Forts UP Syndrome Fund, Meredith Fire Department Auxiliary, Mary Anne Skawinski, Jacki Taylor and Karen and Chuck Thorndike. Tree sponsors: Scott Burns Landscaping, Nancy and John Law and Mary Anne Skawinski.

Raffle Basket Donors included AJ Sporting Goods, Funspot, Hannaford/Meredith, Jerico’s Salon of Laconia, Lake Effect, Lakes Region Nutrition Center, Lakeside Deli, Magic Foods Restaurant Group, Meredith Rotary, Patricia’s Specially For You, SubCrazy, Winnipesaukee Railroad and Y Landing Marine Services.

Thanks also to the Mill Falls Merchant Association for gift cards and gifts from Ben & Jerry’s, Giuseppe’s Pizzeria, Great Northern Trading Company, Great Northern, Too!, Innisfree Bookshop and Oglethorpe Fine Arts and Crafts.

We appreciate the support received from newspapers, businesses and organizations displaying posters, Mills Falls Marketplace and Lago for displaying our banners and Mills Falls at the Lake for providing linens. Also Meredith Village Savings Bank, GMP, the Town of Meredith and all other organizations who promoted the Festival.

Outdoor lighting, the indoor setting and fireplace propane was provided by Tim Noe. The festive porch decorations were provided by Stephen’s Landscaping. The fireplace mantle was beautifully decorated by Sue of Moulton Farm.

Visitors were treated to exceptional musical interludes, thanks to the Inter-Lakes Sixth-Grade Chorus under the direction of the ILES Music Teacher Brendan Dowd, the New Horizons Band Clarinet Ensemble with Stacey Baston, Sebrena Leclerc, Lisa Mc Hugh, Karen Sticht and Ginny Woods, the Kinder Chorus from The Imaginarium under the direction of Debra Dow and The Sweetbloods, Phil and Janet Sanguedolce.

Visitors were delighted by 56 artfully decorated trees. Thirty-six were donated to families selected by area Christmas outreach organizations. Our sincere gratitude goes to the Common Man, Patty and Dale Grenon, Keepsake Quilting and Pineapple Fabrics, Maxfield Real Estate, Meredith Village Savings Bank and Northway Bank for donating festive trees selected for our ’Tis the Season silent auction.

The entire Altrusa International Club of Meredith is proud to be part of such generous and supportive communities. We pledge to continue partnering with local organizations to build better communities.

All proceeds are distributed by The Altrusa International Foundation of Meredith, N.H., Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. To learn more, please visit our website at altrusameredithnh.org.

Monica Bennett

Meredith Altrusa