For the 30^th time the Rochester Woodcarvers have created a tree for the Festival of the Trees.

The six foot tall tree is jam-packed with homemade wooden ornaments. (We lost count at 250 ornaments.) Included are a number of lovely pieces contributed by The Zumbo Valley Woodturners.

Underneath the tree is an expansive “Fun in the Snow” scene including roughly 65 separate figures, trees and items. Activities run from sledding and skating to a snow sculpture contest. The pieces are not glued down, allowing the freedom to rearrange them or even divided up it up into multiple displays. (Squeezing them into the 15 square foot display area we were given resulted in some sections being overcrowded. That is an indication of how much Fun there is in the Snow!)

The top of the tree is crowned with a wonderful, vintage Flexible Flyer Sled. It is an accurate one fifth scale copy of a sled from the mid to late 1950’s. Made of solid wood and 6 inches long, it weighs only 38 grams. The detail is amazing! It took 30 hours just to recreate the logo! If you get out your magnifying glass, you can even read the Trade Mark and patent markings.

In this year of COVID, quarantines and isolation, all trees were displayed in store fronts.
The Woodcarver’s tree offered in an on-line auction brought in $1,100.

A photo album of the tree decorations and decorators is HERE.

A video tour of the tree as displayed in the store front is HERE.

A video showing the display spread out in the winners home is HERE.

Extra “Can You Find It” Challenges

Fun in the Snow Challenge

Among all of the activates under the Woodcarvers tree, can you find:
A sign made out of snowballs, the “Slippery Slope”, a head first tumble into a snow bank, snow angels, Santa on a snowboard, a cold tongue, a palace, a dragon, a group of vehicles, Kilroy, a bushel of snowballs, an upside down pail, a participation ribbon, something from the Figure 8’s.

The Christmas Pickle

There are two Christmas Pickles hidden inside the tree. See the pickle’s story here.

Woodcarver’s Special Ornament Packages

The Woodcarvers have stepped up to provide Hiawatha Home with a one-time special deal. In the past the only way to get any of the ornaments that they create is to win the Woodcarver’s tree.

This year they have made some special ones that will be offered as separate sets of ornaments. More than a dozen lots of these “Woodcarver’s Special Ornament Packages” will be auctioned off on-line. (See a list of them here.)

The “Special Woodcarvers” who make the ornaments are a mysterious, magical group who make wondrous creations. (I promise not to divulge that they are actually a group of elves, gnomes, fairies and goblins. Oops!)