Gallery on Gazebo's Christmas tree extravaganza at AmeriServ Financial

Kelly Urban, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·2 min read

Dec. 29—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A Christmas tree extravaganza is on display at AmeriServ Financial in downtown Johnstown.

Gallery on Gazebo is holding its Festival of the Trees through the end of the year in the lobby of AmeriServ Financial, 216 Franklin St., downtown Johnstown. It features 12 trees decorated by local artists, organizations and businesses.

Arlene Johns, festival chairwoman, said the tree display is in its third year and has helped enhance the holidays in downtown Johnstown.

"The downtown tree is becoming a well-known feature at Christmas, so what better way to play off of that then having more trees?" she ask.

"The lobby at AmeriServ is already a big draw at Christmas with the vintage store displays, and they were acceptable to us doing it there, so it works out perfectly."

Themed tree contributors include "Dairy Makes Everything Taste Better," created by Eva Strang; "The Lost Memory Tree," created by Vivian Hogue, Sue Eppley and Cheryl Long; "Peace Love and Happiness," created by Andi Palmer; "Reducing Childhood Hunger One Backpack At a Time," created by Kristen Villarrial; "The Caring Tree," created by Holly Schenk; "He Knows If You're Been Bad or Good, So Be Good For Goodness Sake," created by Rose Howarth.

Also on display will be "Under the Sea," created by EG Associates, Elder Care Advisors; "Christmas From the Garden," created by the Garden Club of Johnstown's civic development committee; "The Reason For the Season," created by JoAnn Trabold; "The Well-Watered Christmas Tree," created by Johnstown Fire Department; "Take Me Out To the Ballgame," created by the Johnstown Mill Rats; and "Over the River and Through the Woods to Memorial Chevrolet We Go," created by Lisa Downey and Andi Palmer.

"We have some neat trees this year," Johns said. "They all tell a story. Some are sad, some inspirational and some funny, but they are all beautiful. Everyone worked so hard and you can see they've thought about this."

Those coming to view the exhibit will be able to vote for people's choice, most original and most artistic, and a cash prize of $100 will be awarded to the three winners.

"Visitors get to vote once per visit to the bank and there's no cost to vote," Johns said. "We had close to 1,000 votes last year, so it was very popular and a lot of people got to see it."

Johns said the Festival of the Trees is something else for people to do while they're downtown.

"It adds to the warm, fuzzy feeling of the season," she said. "This is just one more feather in Johnstown's cap, and one more reason to come downtown and check out all the great things that you can see and do."

Proceeds will benefit improvements and programming at Gallery on Gazebo.

The trees will be on display during bank hours.

The exhibit is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit www.galleryongazebo.org.