BURKE AREA NEWS
What's Going On In the Burke Area
And the Winners are...
announced December 16, 2024
East Burke, VT – It was a full day of holiday fun in Burke, VT on Sunday, December 15th. Santa kicked things off in the morning, arriving via wagon ride to the Community Building in West Burke with over 100 families waiting to greet him. While they waited to tell Santa their Christmas wishes, the kids enjoyed cider and cookies and did some arts & crafts. Hayden Tanner and his Belgian Draft horses, Greta and Jenna, were also there to take families for wagon rides through the village. The event was hosted by the Burke Area Chamber of Commerce and the West Burke Methodist Church.
Later in the day, folks gathered to check out the brilliant display of Christmas Trees lighting up the green at the Burke Mountain Club and learn the winners of the tree contest. The contest is organized by The Burke Area Chamber of Commerce. The Lollipop Christmas Tree Farm provided the 15 trees which were each ‘adopted’ and decorated by a local school, business or family. Impartial judges chose the winners at the Tree Lighting Celebration on Sunday. As usual, the judges had a hard time picking just 5 winners and had ties in two categories, making for seven winners in total. Each winner received $100 for a charity of their choice.
And the winners are…
- Best Decorations - TIE – Kingdom Trails won with hand-made bike-themed ornaments including KT maps folded origami style into stars (charity- East Burke Fire Brigade). Burke Mountain Academy also won with their tree featuring hand-painted goggle ornaments (charity- Kingdom Kids).
- Best Lights - TIE - Sweetwater Studios won with their tree featuring hand-made yoga themed ornaments and star & globe shaped lights strung around the tree (charity - Lyndon Area Food Shelf). Darling Hill Farm also won with their tree decorated with seashells and starfish. The tree was well lit with some of the shells having lights in them (charity - Kingdom Animal Shelter).
- Best Business Tree - Community National Bank won this category with an interactive and colorful tree featuring a message of hope. The tree included takeaway pins for those wanting to honor a loved one affected by cancer. (charity - Northeast Kingdom Cancer Action Network).
- Best School Tree - Burke Town School won with a tree dedicated to flood victims and everyone involved with this summer's flood recovery efforts in the area. Ornaments included bridge pieces and photos of workers and volunteers in the bulbs. An umbrella serves as an appropriate tree topper with blue lights signifying rain streaming down (charity - Vermont Children's Theater).
- Best Overall Tree - Century 21 Farm & Forest won this category with a BEE…autiful, Bee-themed tree featuring a bumblebee tree topper, bee-related ornaments and a beehive on the side (charity - Kingdom Kids).
The trees will be up until late January. All are encouraged to take a walk on the green and get a close up look at each one to check out the details, imagination and holiday spirit with which each one was decorated. Photos of all the trees are also on the Burke Area Chamber of Commerce facebook page.
