It may be a new location, but it is still a display and auction of beautifully decorated trees — the proceeds from an auction for these trees to benefit the local Salvation Army.

Last Christmas marked 20 years of success for The Salvation Army’s Festival of Trees at the Lycoming Mall. If you are new to the area or unfamiliar with the event, it involves 30 or so area businesses and organizations, each sponsoring and decorating a tree. All the trees are displayed together for three weeks during the holiday season, creating a magical miniature forest.

For the last two decades, holiday shoppers have enjoyed the tree display as they scurried from store to store at the Lycoming Mall. Area families made it a tradition to bring their children to the mall to see Santa and then pick out and vote for their favorite tree on display. At the end of the Festival each year all the trees were sold at auction, raising more than $350,000 over the years to support various Salvation Army programs and services that meet important needs in our community year-round.

But times change. The mall property has been sold for redevelopment. The Festival of Trees had a successful 20-year run, so who would blame The Salvation Army Williamsport Corps for calling it quits with their Festival of Trees? After all, with online fundraising these days, there are easier and faster ways to raise money.

“If The Salvation Army’s Festival of Trees had a theme this year, it might be ‘necessity is the mother of invention — or re-invention,’” Laura Templeton, Salvation Army Community Relations and Development Director and Lead Coordinator of the Festival of Trees Committee, told Webb Weekly.

Over the last few years, The Salvation Army has added more electronic fundraising options, including QR codes on all its Red Kettle stands and online virtual Red Kettles.

“While those options do help capture e-donations,” they can’t replace how the Festival of Trees brings our community together in the spirit of Christmas,” said Templeton.

Over the summer, Templeton and Auctioneer Mike Roan brainstormed how to reinvent the Festival of Trees to maintain its effectiveness as a fundraiser and boost community collaboration and holiday spirit. The first hurdle was obviously finding a new location — one with good visibility to enable the public to continue enjoying the display.

Roan soon spotted a vacant space downtown that might fit the bill—the former bank space on the first floor of 33 W. Third St. — with floor-to-ceiling windows facing both Third and Court streets. This site definitely checked the visibility box, but using this County-owned space would require approval by the Commissioners.

“We approached the Commissioners, not simply asking if we could use the space for a fundraiser. We asked if they would partner with us in continuing a local holiday tradition enjoyed by the community for the last 20 years,” said Major Hershey, Officer of the WilliamsportCorps. “Community is what the Festival of Trees is really all about,” added Hershey. When The Salvation Army explained its vision for bringing the event downtown, Commissioners Metzger, Mirabito, and Mussare all agreed.

With a new event location secured, the Salvation Army’s Festival of Trees committee began planning how they could make the event even bigger and better than before. New committee member and Salvation Army Advisory Board member Curt Fink quickly set to work, canvassing the community to find as many local businesses and organizations as he could to sponsor and decorate trees. “This year we have 47 trees — I think that’s a record,” said Mike Roan, who has been on the event committee since its inception.

Another new Festival of Trees committee member, Dee Roan, a RE/MAX West Branch realtor, decided to organize a collaborative tree called “Christmas on the Creek Road.” This tree (#23) comes with an incentive package with gift cards from over a dozen businesses along Lycoming Creek Road.

“This year’s event reflects what becomes possible when local government, local businesses, and local non-profits all work together,” stated Templeton. She noted that the Williamsport Business Association (WBA) has been extremely supportive, promoting the Festival of Trees through its social media and sponsoring a tree (#44) with an estimated value of nearly $1,000 — thanks to at least 10 WBA member businesses donating a variety of gift cards and products. The WBA includes many smaller local merchants that are the heart of downtown Williamsport, so if you plan to visit the Festival of Trees, why not also do some holiday shopping or grab a meal? It’s also a great time to make sure St. Nick doesn’t have you on the naughty list.

With the mall being closed, The Salvation Army also wanted to provide a place in the community where local families could visit and share their wish lists with Santa during the holidays. To welcome Santa in style, The Salvation Army teamed up with another local non-profit, Factory Works’ Williamsport Community Woodshop, located at the Pajama Factory on Park Avenue. Three woodshop elves—Tim Higgins, Tim Garmin, and Robin Cupp—have been busy designing, building, and painting a magnificent chair for Santa to visit with local little ones. Salvation Army volunteer and local seamstress elf Barb Munro made sure Santa’s chair was comfy with some custom-made cushions. Santa’s special chair (when not in use) is on display at the Festival of Trees. Stop by and see the community elves’ handiwork!

Santa has already paid several visits to the Festival of Trees, and he’ll be back again at 33 W. Third St. on Saturday, December 9 and December 16, from 10 a.m. to noon. Bring your cell phones and snap a free photo with Santa!

In the meantime, be sure to check out the 47 beautifully decorated trees at 33 W. Third St. (10 a.m.-7 p.m., Mon-Sat.) and vote for your favorite tree ($1=1 vote). All trees and their incentive packages will be auctioned to the highest bidder on Friday, December 8, starting at 7 p.m. As always, all proceeds from the annual Festival of Trees will enable The Salvation Army to continue serving our community throughout the new year.