With the milestone 30th annual Festival of Trees in full sparkle through Thanksgiving weekend in Morris, this season also marks the imminent changing of the guard for the volunteers on the leadership team who have created the holiday magic for decades.

“This event has been a beloved community tradition thanks to the incredible women who have poured their hearts into it year after year,” said Vicki Blair, formerly of Morris, in emails about the transition to new leadership. “Each year, they’ve created a festive space filled with decorated trees, handmade crafts, baked goods and holiday spirit – a place that has brought joy to countless Morris residents.”

Festival of Trees is the major fundraiser for the Museum of the Grundy County Historical Society. Volunteering for the benefit has been a family affair for many in town.

It’s Blair’s mother, Sue Cunnea of Morris, who has helmed the project for 28 years, working with the core committee comprised of Jan Hibler, Sandi Dransfeldt, JoEllyn Johnson, Karen Zelko and Theresa Lamb, a member of the auction committee since the very beginning.

All have been on the organizing team since the 1990s, except Zelko, who has devoted two decades.

They announced last year they would retire from their leadership role after the 30th festival.

With all the connections that the committee members have formed by annually pulling the festival together with support from individuals, organizations and businesses throughout the community, they’ve been considering the recruitment of the next generation of leadership.

“We’ll hit it hard after the event is over to see where we go from here,” Cunnea said.

And although the six leaders plan to step back, they will continue helping the museum cause.

“We want to keep the tradition, we would never leave the next group in the lurch at all,” Cunnea said.

She marvels at how the committee has stuck together since the start.

“We just click,” she said. “It’s that camaraderie and just togetherness when we do this event. … It’s amazing to watch how it has developed. It started out with 12 trees, and now we have 119 items for auction, 40 items for raffles.”

The fundraiser continued during the COVID-19 pandemic, which provided an unexpected plus. The group switched the silent auction to an online one conducted by a Morris auction house, Lucky Auctions.

Cunnea called it a great move because putting it onto an auction site took a lot of pressure off the committee.

“It’s been an amazing run and I’m hoping it goes forward,” Cunnea said of the fundraiser, whose many visitors fulfill a committee goal to bring the museum to the forefront. “Whoever steps in to take over will be pleasantly surprised.”

A family endeavor

All the committee members describe the rewards of bringing Festival of Trees to life, their comments captured in the event retrospective in the November newsletter of the Grundy County Historical Society and Museum.

“We are all going to miss getting together, sharing ideas, working and decorating and having lots of laughs during it all,” Lamb said. “I know I am already having a hard time not looking at the different decorations in the stores right now, thinking of how we could use them for next year’s Festival of Trees. I think we all will go through some withdrawal symptoms. … It was work, but it was a wonderful experience we all got to share.”

With the fundraiser indulging her passion for decorating, Dransfeldt said it allowed her to escape her day-to-day routine, and, more importantly, raise funds to sustain the museum. Hibler relishes the friendships that developed.

“I love making people happy – listening to and seeing the expressions on faces as people walk through and enjoy the beautiful creations – and raising funds for such a great cause, the museum, which is preserving the past of Grundy County,” Zelko said. … “The experiences you have, the people you meet and the rewards are priceless.”

Johnson said the committee members “have grown to be like a family. We all get along so well and genuinely care about each other. I love all the planning for each item and making it happen. … I hope [others] will become as involved as all of us have.”

This year, Cunnea had the assistance of a special young elf. “I got to decorate a tree with my 4-year-old great-granddaughter,” Cunnea said. “She is over the moon that we got to do the snowman tree. … Those are the special moments that make it all worth the hard work.”

Mary Collins, executive director of the Museum of the Grundy County Historical Society, said last year’s Festival of Trees brought in $11,000.

“We just really appreciate all the hard work that the ladies have been doing over the past 30 years,” Collins said. “It’s been invaluable to the museum.”

Collins dedicated the entire November newsletter, which details the festival’s history, to the auction committee members.

“I just wanted to honor them since this is going to be their last one as a group,” Collins said.

Planning for future fundraising will pick up after the festival concludes, she said.

“[We’ll] figure out what it’s going to look like next year,” Collins said. “I’m sure it’s going to look different. … We’re going to have to start thinking of other fundraising opportunities. This has been the big one.”

Festival of Trees lineup

The Festival of Trees auction items are on display at the Museum of the Grundy County Historical Society in Morris, a varied collection of decorated trees, wreaths and centerpieces.

Find the online auction at bidluckyauctions.com. It closes Saturday, Nov. 29, after which winners can pick up their one-of-a-kind creations from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 30.

The festival also features raffle items, a Christmas Boutique at the museum and a two-day holiday bake sale tempting with homemade treats Friday and Saturday, Nov. 21 and 22.

Raffle and 50/50 drawing tickets are sold at the museum at 510 W. Illinois Ave. in Morris.

The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday, except Thanksgiving Day.

Learn more about the Festival of Trees and extended hours at grundycountyhs.org or on Facebook at tinyurl.com/nhe57u5x.