{"id":1111,"date":"2018-12-17T21:01:21","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T21:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/?p=1111"},"modified":"2018-12-17T21:01:24","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T21:01:24","slug":"festival-of-trees-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/2018\/12\/17\/festival-of-trees-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Festival of Trees 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year’s Festival of Trees was an overwhelming and unprecedented success! Over 2,800 people attended and REF raised over $30,000 in profits which will go directly toward 2019 Teacher Grants. Without the support from local businesses, school and community groups, individuals and volunteers, our festival would not be possible. Together we have made this  entertaining and rewarding holiday tradition a key fundraiser benefiting Reading’s students!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A special thank you to:<\/strong> our event sponsor the Reading Rotary Club<\/a>; our weekend sponsors: Bertucci\u2019s of Reading<\/a> and Pamplemousse<\/a>; and our entertainment and craft sponsors: RSM US LLP, <\/a>the Ternullo Team<\/a>, J&B Crosby<\/a>, Karen Janowski and Mike Foley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In addition, much appreciation for:<\/strong> Sartell Electric<\/em> for lighting; Bertucci\u2019s in Reading<\/em> for the pizza and dinner fare; the Woburn Showcase Cinema<\/em> and Reading IMAX <\/em>for donating popcorn; Professors Market <\/em>for the delicious desserts; Reading Stop & Shop <\/em>for donating cookie frosting; the Reading Rotary Club<\/em> for donating candy and cotton candy, and staffing the food booth; Creative Arts <\/em>for card making station and evening singalong; Lauren Bennett <\/em>for our festive posters and logos; Reading Cooperative Bank<\/em> for the water; Reading Facilities Department, Parker Middle School  <\/em>and the Custodial crew <\/em>for the space, electrical technology and support; the Reading Public Library<\/em> for helping to promote our event; all our wonderful volunteers\u2013students and adults alike; and of course, our beloved Silent Auction & Tree donors<\/em> (see a complete listing at the end of this post).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year we focused on local entertainment<\/strong>, and had a fabulous array of adult and youth musicians, singers and story-tellers. A heartfelt thanks to our adult performers: Reading Community Concert Band, the Colonial Chorus Players, Voices of Hope choral group, and singer Taylor Hilliard; <\/em>and for the wonderful performances from our inspiring youth: CBTween\/Ben Mini, RMHS Color Guard, RMHS Select Chorus, RMHS Jazz Band, Coolidge Hand Chime Choir, Middle School Jazz Band, Middle School Select Chorus, the Coolidge Flute Trio, Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble, <\/em>and Claire and Charlie Benjamin Harp and Oboe Duo. <\/em>Last but not least, thank you to our favorite storyteller, Eileen Litterio<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We could not have done it without you and all the support from this community!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winning Trees<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

FAVORITE TREE: Reading Embraces Diversity<\/strong> (first time at the festival!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MOST CREATIVE TREE: Tin Bucket<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MOST SPECTACULAR: Reading Education Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BEST UNDER TREE DISPLAY: The Rzepka Family<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BEST TREE TOPPER: The Tompkins Family<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Our fabulous Volunteers!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Voices of Hope<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
All the wonderful entertainment!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tree Donors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aines \u2022 Alive & Well Chiropractic \u2022\u00a0Bankovich Family \u2022 Barbara and Joe\u00a0Casarano\u2022 Barrows PTO \u2022 Birch Meadow Student Council \u2022\u00a0Bonazoli Family \u2022 Bourque and Kinney Families \u2022 Bourque Family \u2022 Bova Family \u2022\u00a0Bowers Family\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calista, Caroline, Emma, Jules & Quinn \u2022 Connect The Tots \u2022 Coolidge Middle School Music Department \u2022 Creative Arts \u2022 Department of Children & Families \u2022\u00a0DiSerio Family \u2022 DKJ Foundation\/Lee Kimball \u2022 Dumas & Bourque Families \u2022 Dumas Family \u2022 Elite Freestyle Karate of Reading \u2022 Evergreen Florist \u2022 Everything But The Dog \u2022 Friends of Mrs. W \u2022 Friends of Reading Recreation \u2022 Gallegos Family \u2022 Gould Family \u2022 Grace Chapel-Reading Life Community \u2022\u00a0Heroux Family \u2022 Hilliard Family \u2022 Joshua Eaton Student Council \u2022 Kay Lash \u2022\u00a0Killiam PTO\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kysa Lovvoll & Cross Country Mortgage \u2022 Lori Foley \u2022 Meadowbrook Golf Club \u2022 Mission of Deeds \u2022 Mrs.\u00a0Cristi’sHomeroom \u2022 MOMS Club of Reading \u2022 Nichols, Wall &\u00a0Wolter Families \u2022 O’Brien Family \u2022 O’Neill Family \u2022 Parker Art Department \u2022\u00a0\u00a0Parker Music Department \u2022 Parker PTO \u2022 PDA Dental \u2022 Peirce Family \u2022 Pine Ridge Neighborhood \u2022 RCTV \u2022 Reading 375 \u2022 Reading Co-Op \u2022 Reading Education Foundation \u2022 Reading Embraces Diversity \u2022 Reading Girl Scout Brownie Troop 62778 \u2022 Reading Independent Video Club \u2022 Reading Orthodontics \u2022 Reading Public Library \u2022 Reading School Committee & Central Office \u2022\u00a0\u00a0Reading Softball Little League (RSLL) \u2022 Reading Youth Hockey \u2022 Reading-North Reading Chamber of Commerce<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RISE PTN \u2022 RMHS Art Club & Sculpture Classes \u2022\u00a0\u00a0RMHS Choral Department \u2022 RMHS Drama Club \u2022 RMHS Marching Band \u2022 RMHS PTO \u2022 RMHS\u00a0Robockets \u2022 RMHS TV Production Class \u2022 Roman Music Therapy \u2022 Rzepka Family \u2022 Samantha’s Harvest \u2022\u00a0\u00a0Sassy Paws Social Good \u2022 Saturday Night Lights \u2022 Strive Fitness \u2022 Taylor Hilliard \u2022 Tin Bucket \u2022 Tompkins Family \u2022 Tread \u2022 True North Reality \u2022\u00a0Women’s League \u2022 Wood End PTO \u00a0\u2022 Wood End Staff \u2022\u00a0Yatsuhashi\u00a0\u00a0Family<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silent Auction Donors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A friend of REF \u2022 Bobbie Botticelli \u2022\u00a0Calaresos \u2022\u00a0Dicara’s \u2022 Dieselman Family \u2022\u00a0Douglass,\u00a0Edgerley &\u00a0Bessom Funeral Home \u2022\u00a0GilburgFamily \u2022 Harrows Hitching Post \u2022\u00a0Laschis \u2022\u00a0Lovvoll Family \u2022 Nelson Family \u2022 Northeast School of Ballet \u2022\u00a0Pamplemousse \u2022 RCTV \u2022 Reading Gymnastics \u2022 The Chocolate Truffle \u2022 Wetmore Family<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year’s Festival of Trees was an overwhelming and unprecedented success! Over 2,800 people attended and REF raised over $30,000 in profits which will go directly toward 2019 Teacher Grants.\u2026 read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-festival-of-trees","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1111"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1123,"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111\/revisions\/1123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readingef.org\/ref\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}