Ferdinand Flower Shop and Ireland Tie at Festival of Trees

The Dubois County Museum announced winners of its annual Festival of Trees on January 5, crowning the Ferdinand Flower Shop and the town of Ireland in a first-place tie. The event showcased more than fifty trees decorated by museum volunteers, nonprofit groups and community organizations, and the museum expressed thanks to all participants for contributing to the holiday-season program.

The Festival of Trees is one of the museum’s signature seasonal offerings, bringing together a mix of civic, business and nonprofit participants to create a public display that draws residents into a shared cultural space. Trees remain on display through January 10, giving families, school groups and community members a last window to view the installations before volunteers begin takedown on January 11.

Beyond the winners, the event underscored broader patterns of local civic engagement. Volunteer labor from the museum and decorations by nonprofit organizations illustrate how small institutions leverage community participation to stage public programming. For a rural county where formal cultural funding can be limited, seasonal events like this serve as low-cost, high-visibility opportunities for civic groups to raise their profile, recruit members and build relationships with residents.

The museum’s acknowledgment of participants points to another operational reality: these exhibitions depend heavily on community goodwill. Volunteers will transition from celebration to logistics on January 11 when takedown begins, a process that relies on continued volunteer coordination and the museum’s capacity to manage seasonal turnover. Sustaining that volunteer pipeline affects not only future holiday programming but the museum’s year-round offerings, which often depend on similar grassroots support.

For local leaders and funders, the Festival of Trees offers a concrete example of how civic institutions and community organizations intersect. Investments in staffing support, volunteer coordination and facility upkeep can amplify the cultural returns of modest events, strengthening civic ties that extend into other forms of public life.

Residents who have not yet visited have until January 10 to see the decorated trees and observe the local collaborations on display. The museum has signaled that takedown work will begin the following day, marking the close of this year’s exhibition and the start of restorations for the museum’s next cycle of programs.