Over the past 30 years, historic preservation around the region has received a $2 million boost thanks to the Methuen Festival of Trees.
To celebrate its first three decades, thank supporters and usher in this year’s effort, the Methuen Festival of Trees is having a Community Celebration with tours, food, children’s activities and more this Saturday, Sept. 9.
Among the organizers who were there at the beginning were former state Sen. and Methuen Mayor Sharon M. Pollard and her husband, former Rep. Thomas R. Lussier. Lussier recently stopped WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program to discuss the milestone and upcoming plans.
“It was actually started to restore the Tenney Gatehouse, which was a very historic building in Methuen, which was in terrible disrepair. The group of us at the time had done all of the fundraising kinds of things that small community groups do, everything from dances to raffles to bake sales, all those things you do in small community groups, and we decided there was a need to do something bigger and better and the festival was born,” he explained.
Lussier said the Methuen Festival of Trees brings the donation of more than 200 fully decorated trees each year, delivering more than $2 million for various area preservation projects, including Haverhill’s Winnekenni Castle, North Andover’s Stevens Memorial Library, Methuen Memorial Music Hall and others.
Saturday’s Community Celebration takes place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Tenney Gatehouse, 37 Pleasant St., Methuen, by the entrance to Greycourt State Park.
“We’re going to have tours of the Gatehouse, we’re going to have a small trolley tour of the city center where we will focus on buildings we have contributed to their restoration and preservation. There will be a couple of food vendors and lots of things for children to do—everything from a bouncy house to some games. There will be prizes and gifts. It’s the kind of thing we want people to stop by, if you’re interested in history, do the history part, if you want your kids to run around for a half hour and have some fun, that’s good too,” Lussier said.
The 30th Annual Festival of Trees takes place from Saturday, Nov. 18, through Saturday, Dec. 2, at 13 Branch St., Methuen. There’s more at MethuenFestivalofTrees.com
Besides WHAV.net, WHAV’s “Merrimack Valley Newsmakers” podcasts are available via Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts, TuneIn and Alexa.