Chronicle/Cités-Nouvelles partake in Christmas tree contest

The Chronicle and Cités Nouvelles geared up to spread some holiday cheer this morning at Fairview Shopping Centre in Pointe Claire to participate in the West Island Community Shares' (WICS) seventh annual Christmas Tree contest, known as the Enchanted Forest.

"As community newspapers, we feel that it's very important for us to participate in the community," said Denis Therrien, publisher of the two newspapers, on a small break from decorating the tree.

W.I.C.S. events co-ordinator Rania Cotran said this is the seventh year the contest is run. "It's become a part of the Christmas tradition at Fairivew," she added.

Every year, participating organizations pay $2,500 to earn the right to decorate a tree in any way they want. The winning company or organization earns a plaque on a trophy. Proceeds from the event go towards W.I.C.S's general fund, from which it doles out funds to West Island-based community organizations every year.

"We have a panel of judges that makes their selection based on four criteria," Cotran said. They were originality, creativity, wow factor and overall appeal.

She said W.I.C.S. has debated the idea of giving a general theme for participants to work with in the past, but ultimately decided against it. "People will probably be more creative if they come up with their own theme," she said.

This year, The Chronicle/Cités-Nouvelles incorporated recycling and newspapers into their tree, explained designer Kim Manning. "It was a tree by a newspaper company for the community," she said about her reasoning.

The Chronicle/Cités-Nouvelles tree was in the midst of being decorated when The Chronicle arrived. Transparent gift boxes were filled with shredded newspaper bits, and Christmas balls and cut-outs of small silhouettes were also made of newspaper bits.

The bottom of the tree was lined with framed pictures reproduced from various stories that appeared in the two newspapers over the course of the last year.

"Install them on the meatiest parts of the branches," Manning explained to co-decorator Lynn Brown-Poole, sales manager for the newspapers.

Brown-Poole said she was happy to participate in decorating the tree. She said she has sat as a volunteer at a table for W.I.C.S. in previous years, but has never participated in the contest itself. "It is exciting," she said, "as sure as a fun day at the office."

The winning tree will be selected on December 19 at noon.