BLOOMINGTON –Beautifully decorated Christmas trees, wreaths and gingerbread houses with an international flair may dazzle grownups, but small children may find them, well, a little boring. The Festival of Trees has an answer for that: Jingle Bell Junction. The Baby Fold fundraiser concluding today at the Interstate Center in Bloomington sets aside an area for toys and children’s activities.
“I thought it was just trees and Santa, so it was good to have an area for kids,” said first-time festival visitor Kathy Robinson of Pontiac, who attended with daughter Daria and grandsons Krue, 4, and Isaiah, 2. As a retired junior high school reading teacher, Robinson enjoyed the Christmas Town Library area, which included a rocking chair and various Christmas-related books. “The area for the children was very well done,” she said.
Krue, already a versatile musician, enjoyed the traditional Christmas carol played by a flute choir, the Grace Notes, playing on stage in the center of the main room. The children’s area also features a train children can ride, a rope ladder, crafts and other activities. As for the festival itself, the theme for its 14th year is “Christmas Around the World.” The theme was announced before Christmas last year, earlier than usual.
That extra time must have inspired the designers, making this year’s event the “most theme-depicted festival” so far, Chairman Larry Phillips said. James and Gretchen Fagin of Lincoln College designed a Scandinavian-themed tree decorated with flags of the region’s countries. Dave and Donna Williams designed an American Indian tree complete with a dream catcher and American Indian herbs.