The Senior Resource Center is comprised of caring people responding to societal changes that are challenging our senior citizens and the people who care for them.

Lisa Sibelman, Program Director

programdirector@srcnj.org

908-879-2202

We thank the many volunteers, sponsors, advertisers and decorators for helping to make this year's Festival of Trees so memorable. Thank you to all of those who attended as well. We look forward to making the 2024 event bigger & better!

Our 2023 Festival of Trees (FOT) has recently ended. The barn is empty again, empty of the all the trees: 71 trees for auction, over 50 little “cash & carry” ones we sold each day, a huge sales table area, refreshments, a lovely outdoor display featuring a display with a gigantic beautifully lit tree (thank you to R & R Construction) and additional decorated trees and decorations everywhere we could place them. It took a week to set in place so that all our visitors could be amazed at the beauty, creativity, joy and pleasure displayed. We only had late Saturday and all-day Sunday to complete the “takedown” but all was accomplished.

As the Board President of the Senior Resource Center, I write expressing deep gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to make this event possible yet again. This was our 21^st year and as it was the year with the highest amount raised. All on the SRC Board rejoice and celebrate its success. And as a member of the FOT committee I give the deepest appreciation and sincere thanks to all who worked so hard during the months of preparation, and daily, once we entered the barn, until all was completed. 

Being present there the two Saturdays enabled me to welcome many return visitors. The family who were coming for their 20th year with their 21 year old son, for example. They had first brought him as a baby - long ago! Many families come every year and I see the children become adults seemingly so quickly. Each year they always say, "It's the best year ever" - a complement to our wonderful decorators. This year many decorators will say they are happy their trees have been sold. But this year has been the best ever; for the first time ever we sold every raffle ticket, we used all the voting sheets and all the program books. Our attendance was the highest ever, too. We were able to donate 10 auction trees (6 were 4ft 6 and 4 table top) to the families formerly homeless and now living in transitional housing units, as well as 10 table top trees to families from a church. All the donated cash and carry trees as well as the few unsold ones were taken to the Long Valley food pantry for their holiday fair. We are always happy to be generous.  

Because of all the hard work, the generosity of our sponsors, decorators, advertisers, and devoted time of our volunteers we have been successful. Our goal has been accomplished. The result of all this generosity and hard work means that the Senior Resource Center can anticipate another wonderful year of programs and worthwhile activities. This is why we created the FOT- as our main annual fundraiser. If you are a senior, I hope you will value the classes and programs we offer and then thank all who have made them possible by being a part of the FOT. If you are a participant in our programs and classes, I hope you will utilize the businesses who have participated in any way and thank them, indicating your participation in FOT with gratitude for their support.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all involved.

The 2023 FOT was a BIG success!

The barn looked magnificent, with a huge decorated tree outside (great spot for pictures), 71 beautifully decorated larger trees as well as 50 smaller ones, wreaths, Christmas decorations and many smaller items for sale while you munched on cookies & cake, voted for your favorite tree (see below?) and maybe did the scavenger hunt for a prize. Santa was there too, along with Barbie, Taylor Swift and Ralphie with his air rifle ("you'll shoot your eye out") -- all while it was 'Snowing cats & dogs' on the 'Train Ride' to 'Santa's workshop'. Megan Pepper, the Silver Belles & Beaus Senior Singers; and the "SRC String Jammers" provided entertainment.

We significantly exceeded our 2022 numbers for attendance (over a thousand people attended), sales and donations. All the 50/50 raffle tickets were sold -- with 2 of the 3 winners from SRC or SRC family members. Our SRC quilt (The Trees in Our Lives) also sold. As we have said before, the FOT is the largest source of funds for the SRC. A successful FOT is necessary for the continued functioning of the SRC.

Besides the SRC, multiple local families also benefit -- over 35 trees of all sizes were donated to local charities (e.g. Homeless Solutions), and specific families by either the FOT as an organization, or by individuals who purchased a tree and donated it.

A BIG 'THANK YOU' to everyone who prepared, cleaned, decorated trees, donated supplies (& dollars), solicited sponsors & ads, loaded the truck, worked at the barn, and all the many other things that were needed to make it all happen. A special 'shout out' to Julia, Janet, Dee, Claire, and Jayne who kept the barn operational for 9 days, as well as Roseann at the front desk, and Marlene & Carol, who spent many hours at the SRC information table (and signed up 29 potential new members)..

If you missed the event, but still want to participate, hit the 'DONATE' button at the bottom of the message, Venmo us at '@SRCNJ' or send a check

It's Snowing Cats and Dogs on the

Train Ride in Barbie's World!

With 7,342 votes cast, the tree voting continues the record-setting pace of this year's event.

13 trees received over 200 Total Votes, led by the top 3 winners:

'Snowing Cats & Dogs' (#34) with 467

'Train Ride' (#30) with 383

'Barbie' (#18) with 330

Congratulations to the decorators (Erica Zarouni, Cynthia Dreeman Meyer, Jennifer Ciafullo).

A huge thank you to Pat & Carl Brand for counting up all of the votes!

A big thank you to all of the many people who contributed to the success of the FOT, but a special shout out and thanks to Julia Comick, "Decorator Extraordinaire, for the many trees and wreaths to which she added her magical touch. It is impossible to even nearly approximate the many hours, days, weeks that Julia worked for the Festival .  And what a super salesperson Julia was as she gave of her time, energy and talent. She organized the decorating of at least 50 cash and carry trees, adding her skills when a little help transformed a beautifully decorated tree into an even more beautifully decorated tree.

In addition to countless Cash and Carry trees and the huge Santa (boots and treetop hat) that served as a backdrop for Santa pictures, our creative "jewel" produced a unique tree for the Healthy Bones Class, a "Home Sweet Home" tree and enhanced so many others. Some trees and wreaths were left as donations on the doorstep during the festival and immediately became wondrous. No wonder these were sold immediately after Julia added her special touch.

Thank you, thank you, Julia for all that you did to make this such a fabulous FOT. 

One of our “unsung heroes” is our treasurer, Carl Brand

He dealt with all the finances which came in before FOT actually started and then arrived every evening of the event to count the income (with Jayne Mutascio) before banking it. But that is not all. He was our wonderful truck driver for the transporting of all the items from the Church of the Messiah to the barn and back at the end. The truck driver of course helped load and unload, a huge task of labor and love.

But again that is not all. He and his wife Pat collected all those hundreds and hundreds of voting slips and then counted and recorded them so that we now know who won the contests in all the 7 categories. Carl, you are a wonderful hero for the SRC and we all want to thank you many times over for all you do and have done.

Megan and Ryan Turner devoted many volunteer hours to the FOT this year, including sorting all of the bins in the storage area over the summer. Additionally, volunteers from the Mendham High School Service Club and the St. Lawrence Church Confirmation class helped with setup and cleanup.

Rick and Ryan Turner and Carl/Ken delivered all the trees, which was an incredibly difficult undertaking.

We need more volunteers to get involved for set-up and cleanup next year!

THANK YOU TO

THE BELLES & BEAUS OF HUNTERDON COUNTY

FOR PERFORMING

AT THE FESTIVAL OF TREES!

YOUR WONDERUL SINGING BROUGHT MUCH HOLIDAY CHEER TO THE EVENT

THANK YOU TO

MEGAN PEPPER

FOR PERFORMING

AT THE FESTIVAL OF TREES!

YOUR BEAUTIFUL VOICE AND GUITAR PLAYING BROUGHT SO MUCH JOY TO THE EVENT

THANK YOU TO THE

SRC STRING JAMMERS FOR THE BLUEGRASS, CHRISTMAS & CHANUKAH MUSIC THEY PLAYED AT THIS YEAR'S FESTIVAL.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO HAVING YOU ALL BACK NEXT YEAR!

So many amazing memories were created by the wonderful people and family members from the Senior Resource Center in Chester!

Here's the basement at SRC

on the morning before the

Festival of Trees

Here's the basement at SRC on the morning after the Festival of Trees

We're already getting ready for the

2024 Festival of Trees !!

The Senior Resource Center (SRC) is a 501(c)3 non-profit agency committed to providing information, advocacy, referral services, support and activities to seniors and their caregivers. We receive NO government funding – federal, state, county or municipal. We are supported by grant awards, individual donations and our annual major fundraiser.