A tradition that has become a favorite, in our small county, as December rolls around is the Festival of Trees. The entry and hallway of the DeKalb County Complex becomes a Christmas wonderland with trees in all shapes, all sizes and a variety of themes.

As we know, the unlikely can sometimes take center stage, and that is exactly what happened with the “Tree of the Year” title. The  “Charlie Brown Little Tree that Could,” entered by Denise Page gathered the most gifts from visitors Monday night, December 9 with a total of 124. Running a very close second was Middle TN Tae Kwon Do’s tree with 107 gifts.

The Prettiest Tree went to Liberty State Bank, the Most Unique Tree went to Alexandria Fire Department, Best Themed Tree award went to Middle TN Tae Kwon Do, Most Touching Theme tree went to Overcomers and The Tree You want in your living room went to DeKalb Prevention Coalition.

The Vintage Owl, Sink Creek Pet Cremation, ChristPoint Church, New Home Missionary Baptist Church, First Bank, Clean & Comfortable Spaces, Center Hill Realty, DeKalb County Florist, Middle TN Natural Gas, Wilson Bank & Trust, Justin Potter Library, DeKalb County 4-H, First Assembly of God, DeKalb Animal Shelter, DeKalb County Ace Hardware, DTC Communications, Mary Kay by Vonda Kay, Town & Lake Realty, and Center Hill Realty also displayed trees for the public.

A total of 882 toys/items were collecting and received by local ministry the Last Minute Toy Shop.