(Atlantic, Iowa) – Here’s a reminder from the Station Where Your Friends are: A longstanding tradition has returned to Cass County…the annual Festival of Trees is underway now through Sunday, in Atlantic.The multi-day event, sponsored by the Cass County Chapter of the American Cancer Society, takes place at the Catholic Parish Center,105 West 5th Street in Atlantic.

This year’s event features 57 trees, decorated in a variety of themes ranging from cooking to local grown produce, and cupcakes to dolls, and even a grinch themed balloon Christmas tree. Other highlights include a tree constructed of coffee and beverage cups, an upside-down tree, several memorial trees and a step ladder tree.

Along with the trees, there will be 7 holiday themed displays including a seven-foot gold lion, a display of homemade satin and sequined boxes, an 8 ft x 4 ft  x 8 ft church with stained glass windows, an ice cream and cookies display and an 80 square foot operational Christmas train and village display.

Cookies and beverages are available for you to enjoy as they walk through the displays, or sit and reconnect with friends. The event will also feature musical performances by local artists from 1 to 3 pm on Saturday and soup served to attendees on Sunday. The local BPO Does will also be hosting a Cookie Walk upstairs on Saturday from 9 am – noon.

In addition to helping spread holiday cheer, the festival serves as a fundraiser to benefit the American Cancer Society. Admission to the festival is a free will donation, and raffle tickets are also sold for attendees to win a chance at a variety of seasonal home and gift items. A special feature for this year’s raffle is a quilt hand-made by local youth Paige Baier, in addition to watercolor paintings, Creighton basketball game tickets, seasonal wreaths, holiday wall hangings and table decor, and even a Christmas tree decorated with Hallmark collectible ornaments! A match of all raffle proceeds up to a thousand dollars will be provided by Royal Neighbors of America.

New this year, a separate raffle is being held for a vintage, life-sized mechanical Santa. This Santa, most recently housed at the now-closed Coca-Cola museum in downtown Atlantic, has graced many downtown windows as early as the 1950s. This raffle kicked off at the 2021 Coca-Cola Days celebration in Atlantic, and Santa has been traveling to storefronts around the downtown ever since. Tickets for this unique raffle can be purchased at any time prior to the drawing on December 5th- either at the Atlantic Chamber, or at Festival of Trees where he will be on display.

Trees and displays will be open to the public for viewing on the following schedule: Thursday, December 2nd from 10:00 A.M to 8:00 P.M., Friday, December 3rd from 10:00 A.M. to 6:30 P.M., Saturday, December 4th from 10:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M., and Sunday, December 5th from 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.