BROOKINGS — Among other things, the Christmas season is a time for celebrating traditions — and one of those traditions that goes back for more than 30 years is the decoration of trees at the Brookings Arts Council, located in the former Carnegie Library at 524 Fourth Street. The theme for the decoration of this year’s 17 trees is “Woodland Creatures.”
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BROOKINGS — Among other things, the Christmas season is a time for celebrating traditions — and one of those traditions that goes back for more than 30 years is the decoration of trees at the Brookings Arts Council, located in the former Carnegie Library at 524 Fourth Street. The theme for the decoration of this year’s 17 trees is “Woodland Creatures.”
Those creatures include “squirrels, owls, bunnies, a possum and a badger,” all pointed out by BAC Executive Director Rachel Funk, as she showed off this year’s trees. Note that the animals are all friendly, nothing vicious.
Interpreting this year’s theme were trees that included: “Little Leprechauns of the Woods,” decorated by 4H Little Leprechauns; “Woodland Birds,” a patriotic-themed tree done by the local chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution; “Creative Memories,” by the Cul-de-sac Crew, some neighbors who got together to decorate; Brookings High School Chapter of FCLLA (Future Career and Community Leaders of America), a festive looking tree with a lot of homemade paper ornaments; “Woodland Fiber Friends,” by Brookings Fiberworks Guild, decorated with knitted ornaments; “Jolly OLLI Christmas,” by local members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, featuring a variety of little animal creatures on the tree and in the background and a big cutout of the OLLI llama; “Around the World,” by the Brookings Multicultural Center,” decorations with an international flavor, naming Nepal, Netherlands, Iran, Hungary and several other nations; “Make the Yuletide Gay,” Brookings PRIDE, featuring handmade paper flags recognizing the various groups that make up the larger LGBTG+ community; “Candy Coated Christmas,” by the Brookings Area Girl Scouts; “Yuletide Yoga,” done by Prairie Soul Yoga Studio, with decorations showing little critters on yoga mats; and finally, there’s a tree, sponsored by the First Lutheran Church preschoolers, which features “The Mitten,” a kids’ book by Jan Brett, and has under the tree a variety stuffed furry creatures.
All the trees are numbered and people viewing them can vote for their favorites. The winner will receive a gift certificate to one of BAC’s classes and a BAC coffee mug.
“If it’s a group of people, they get to fight over who gets the mug,” Funk said, laughing lightly, as she added, “There is no big cash prize.”
Funk is a native Kansan who moved to Brookings in 2014 to attend South Dakota State University; she graduated with a ceramics degree, an art history certificate and an education background. And she stayed in Brookings, working at several different jobs before coming to the Arts Council.
By way of background history, as noted above, the annual festival goes back more than 30 years. The 17 trees come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are available for each festival on a first-come first-served basis. The trees are artificial and when not in use they stored by the City of Brookings.
“Any organization, friend group, individual or business can sign up to decorate a tree for a fee of $35,” Funk explained. One of this year’s trees was decorated by a group of cul-de-sac neighbors.
“When all is said and done, people take down their decorations and we put (the trees) back in storage,” she added.
The trees are spaced well apart around the main floor and that allows for accessibility for those visiting and viewing the trees. And the building is handicapped accessible, with a wheelchair elevator lift at ground level.
“We also have our holiday gift store, and it’s all local artists, artisans and small businesses that make things,” Funk explained. “Two of the people in our holiday store have a gallery show here next year: Julie Dent has a show in February; Amanda Berg has a show here in June.”
Pictures of the trees can be seen on the BAC Facebook site.
Hours for viewing between now and the end of the year are: Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 7 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m. The festival is closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve is the last day of the festival.
Contact John Kubal at jkubal@brookingsregister.com.
