Tis the season
The Friends of Confederation Centre decorate 26 theme trees; create ambience for this special season
Cathy Roney is on a first-name basis with the Christmas trees being decorated by her band of volunteers at the Confederation Centre of the Arts this week.
“This one is O Canada,” says the president of the Friends of Confederation Centre, pointing out the evergreen sprinkled with red and white decorations.
Nearby is Sugar Plum Fairy, adorned with pastel pink and blue ornaments and pink champagne, decked out with feathers and rose gold ornaments.
“All that Glitters will be in the boardroom. It’s a white tree that’s sprayed with gold glitter and has gold decorations,” says Roney.
There are others, too numerous to mention, that add up to a grand total of 26 trees.
Watching the trees develop their own personality pleases the festive leader who, along with Lynn Hodgson, has co-ordinated tree-decorating parties at the Centre for the past 15 years.
This year the trees will be placed at various locations around the Confederation Centre.
But, first, there’s a plan to follow. “Paul Wood does the setup and helps with the lights,” says Roney.
Then, all the trees are moved into Studio 1.
“Next, the volunteers will come in and decorate them nicely and label them.”
Her partner-in-design is pleased with the progress being made.
“We’ve got a great bunch of volunteers. They make things a lot easier,” says Hodgson, as she wraps gold ribbon around the base of mini trees that will be placed around the tables at Mavors.
Dressing trees is a tradition that began in 2003, when the Friends were asked to take over the decorating.
“We got $500 from the friends and $500 from the centre and we’d go looking for bargains. We also inherited all the red flock balls from the 10-foot tree that had been used in Memorial Hall. So, we’ve learned to recycle,” says Roney.
Then, at some point they started naming the trees.
“In the beginning we didn’t have many. Now we call it the Friends Tree Festival.”
For her, the greatest thrill is seeing the reaction of others.
“People love taking holiday photos around the trees, and this year there are many to choose from.”