By LEE WARD / THE INDEPENDENT
ASHLAND — The scene at the Paramount Arts Center resembles Santa’s workshop, with busy volunteers and staff members working hard at their assigned task, getting ready for the opening of the Festival of Trees and Trains on Saturday.
This year is special, in that it marks 25 years of the event. Premiere Night, set for Friday, will include cocktails and appetizers with dancing to the music of Ritchie Collins and Friends. Cost is $75 per person, with reserved stage seating available.
The doors will open at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and continue with varying hours through Nov. 29. Both Saturdays of the festival will include Cocoa with Santa, Santa’s Workshop and Crafts with elves and photos with Santa.
Rhonda Ballengee is chairwoman of the Festival of Trees and Trains. This historic year is her first to head the event.
“I love doing this kind of event. I love to decorate and do trees,” she said.
Ballengee recently moved to Ashland from McDermott, Ohio, and was not familiar with the festival.
“I am learning everything new and how it runs,” she said. “Next year I hope to make some great new changes and maybe improve on some of the same things we do.”
Ballengee has experience, though. She has decorated trees for the Hollydays in Portsmouth for the past 10 years.
“This festival is a lot larger, so this is a wonderful challenge, to make a great Festival of Trees and Trains,” she said.
A new facet to the event this year is the 25th Anniversary Vase, designed by potter B.J. Wilder. A limited number will be sold and the first numbered vase will be auctioned at the Premiere Night Party Nov. 20, when all the times in the festival will be auctioned, Ballengee said.
At this event, the Best of Show award, a 22-inch silver cup, will be awarded to the single overall winner, a first in the festival’s 25-year history.
The Marquee Room will be home to a Paramount Women’s Association Museum with the theme “Celebrating 25 Years of Festivals with the PWA.” On display will be posters, scrapbooks and other memorabilia from the past 25 years of the festival, she said.
Hours for this year’s Festival of Trees and Trains are:
Opening day (Nov. 21) — opens at 9:30 a.m.
‰Daily — 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
‰Sunday — Noon to 9 p.m.
‰Thanksgiving — 4 to 10 p.m.
‰Sunday — Noon to 6 p.m.
Admission is:
‰Adults (13 to 54) — $6
‰Seniors (55 and older) — $4
‰Children — 12 and younger) — $4
‰Younger than 3 — Free
The event offers some admission specials as well.
Family Day from 3 to 9 p.m. Nov. 24, also parade day, admission is $10 for families. There is no limit to the number of family members.
Late-night admission is 8 to 9 p.m. daily. Cost is $10 for a carload (up to seven) and $20 for a vanload (up to 15).
School tours may be scheduled for certain days. For more information, call the box office at (606) 324-3175.
LEE WARD can be reached at lward@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2661.
