I wanted to begin my column by reminding everyone that today, November 18, the Bennett radio Group and WOXO FM are hosting the second Annual Radio-thon to support Rightstart’s Christmas For Kids & Teens. I will be at the studios at 243 Main Street in Norway with Stan Bennett & Heidi Adams talking up fundraising for this critically important fundraiser.

Literally, hundreds of families in the greater Oxford Hills struggle financially during the holiday season each year and it is our focus at the Chamber of Commerce and Bennett Radio Group to encourage our communities to give generously so that Rightstart can provide gifts for the children and the teenagers of those families in need, ensuring a joyful Christmas morning.

Please stop by the studios and give what you can to help bring smiles to the faces of our children and our families in need. Or call the studios with your donations. We will be there all day starting early in the morning. Thank you for your willingness to give.

I’ve been talking a lot about the upcoming 44th Annual Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade and the 10th Annual Festival of Trees, and I want to continue to promote these two huge community events because we all need this more than ever after coming through more than a year and a half of seclusion and stress associated with the covid 19 pandemic.

These two events that kick off the start of the Christmas Holiday season on the weekend after Thanksgiving, bring a sense of togetherness and joy to families and children from all over western Maine. This year the Festival of Trees has a brand-new location at the historic McLaughlin Garden & Homestead, 97 Main Street in South Paris in their beautiful barn decorated for Christmas and filled with dozens of spectacular, glittering trees adorned with decorations and gifts, partnering for the first time with the Chamber of Commerce.

The 10th Annual Festival of Trees will open Friday, November 26 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, November 27 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, November 28 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can buy raffle tickets and place them in decorated boxes next to the trees that you would like to win while enjoying a free mug of Hot Chocolate from the Short Folks Foundation, sponsored by Rooper’s Beverage & Redemption Center. There is no admission charge for this event and you can buy raffle tickets in increments of 1 to 35. There will be colorful candy canes for everyone and just maybe a surprise visit from that jolly old elf himself. Don’t miss it.

It’s been 44 years since the first Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade stepped off of Main Street in Norway and we are back on Saturday, November 27 starting at 11 a.m. sharp right next to Café Nomad with fire trucks from departments all over western Maine, the Kora Shriner Trikes and Mini-Race Cars brought to our parade by Northeast Bank, marching Bands from our high school and middle school, cheerleaders, colorful floats, the National Guard, Wreaths Across America with their 18 wheeler and education van, and many. many more vehicles and organizations, followed by none other than Jolly Old Saint Nicholas and Mrs. Claus making a special trip down from the North Pole just for our parade.

If your business or organization would like to be a part of our parade, there is still time to register with a float, or even if you would just like to have a vehicle from your business or organization in the parade you can do that too. Please adorn them with at least a nice holiday wreath. Go to our website www.oxfordhillsmaine.com and click onto The Christmas Parade on the front page and sign up. No politics please, just a fun event for the entire family.

Finally, the Bennett Radio Group will be “Live Streaming” the entire parade right from their studios on Main Street in Norway.

See you next week.

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