‘Festival of Trees’ event held by USUSA

Holiday spirits were high Monday night as organizations across campus converged in the Taggart Student Center lounges to kick off this year’s Festival of Trees.

The event, put on by the USUSA Traditions Committee, has been happening for over a decade now. This year, 49 Christmas trees were sponsored and decorated by various clubs and organizations and will later be donated to families in Cache Valley.

Because of the variety of clubs and organizations participating, there was also a variety of tree decorations and styles.

Julie Wardell, a member of the Native American Student Council, has helped decorate her group’s tree for three years now. This year, their tree showcased different tribes throughout the country with ornaments and other decorations with Native American designs. She said her favorite part of the event is seeing everyone decorating their trees at the same time.

The Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services had a tree featuring crayons, markers and children’s board games.

Carrie Nelson, who helped in decorating the tree, said they were going for a “really bright, happy and human-friendly” design. She was impressed with the variety of decorations she saw at the event.

“There’s still ribbons and ornaments, but there’s so many unique things on every single tree,” Nelson said. “I think it’s really fun to see the creativity.”

To encourage that creativity, students and community members can vote on their favorite trees through the end of the week. The groups with the top three trees will receive $100, $50 and $25, respectively.

The President’s Cabinet decorated a Grinch-themed tree this year. After winning a prize for the past three years, Maddy Hill said they felt some pressure over their tree design, but ultimately decided on the Grinch theme because they thought it would be something that a family would like to have in their home.

“That’s what we talked about a lot, what would be fun to have in somebody’s house, rather than what would be easiest to decorate,” Hill said.

A Utah State University student decorates her tree for the 2018 Festival of Trees. The trees were donated to refugees families and other families in need.

After this week, the decorated trees will be donated to families in the area through Bear River Head Start, a non-profit agency that serves 560 children from low-income families through home- and center-based programs.

These families include refugees and those who are working through crises and can’t afford a tree. Each month, family advocates visit the homes of these families to assess needs and set goals. This year, all families that requested a tree will be receiving one because of the Festival of Trees event, said Jane Despain, community relations specialist for Bear River Head Start.

The trees are open to public viewing through Dec. 7 in the Taggart Student Center lounges. Various events will be happening in connection with the Festival of Trees throughout the week, including a movie night on Tuesday and Moonlight and Music on Thursday night. More information can be found on the USUSA Student Events Facebook page.

Voting for the trees is open from Dec. 4 until Dec. 7 at 5 p.m. Students can vote at the TSC lounges from 12-2 p.m. every day or online at https://ususa.usu.edu/survey. Winners will be announced Friday night after the Power Hour Dance.

—alek.nelson@aggiemail.usu.edu

@nelsonalek