COMMUNITY News:Champions of Youth Ambitions (C’YA), along with project partner, the Los Alamos Retired and Senior Organization (LARSO) recently received a grant from Los Alamos MainStreet, to support their 15th annual Festival of Trees.
“Los Alamos MainStreet is happy to support the Festival of Trees with some Small Projects Grant funding for the organizers to promote and advertise their event,” Lauren McDaniel, Director of Los Alamos MainStreet said. “It’s a festive community gathering that will bring people to the downtown MainStreet district and that’s one of our goals with this grant program.”
The event started in 2003 as a collaboration to benefit community programs for all ages. Champions of Youth Ambition’s Director, Bernadette Lauritzen and Los Alamos Retired and Senior Organization, Pauline Powell Schneider, first began the event with four holiday trees and fifteen years later, the event hosts almost 100 holiday items available on silent auction.
The goal is to get more visitors in the doors by decorating two trees on Central to increase awareness, and provide a chance to support local businesses. The new opportunity for community members allows them to show receipts from local businesses for a chance to win a prize. While entry is free, donations of snacks and lunch items for school students and home bound seniors are appreciated throughout the week.
“I tried this fun idea a number of years ago,” said Lauritzen. “Only on Saturday, visitors simply show any receipts from local businesses dated, Nov. 1
through 17. Each receipt earns an entry ticket for a chance to win a Chamber Check from the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce, plus another way to support local businesses.”
While trees will start to appear next week, the event runs the week leading up to Nov. 17, during regular business hours, with the grand event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday. Donations of trees and wreaths are welcome, call 662.8920 for information.
