Each year since 1999, the Washington County Humane Society celebrates the holidays with their annual Festival of Trees celebration. In the program's 25 years, it has raised nearly $1 million to help support the Humane Society and the medical needs of its pets. The beautiful trees and wreaths featured at the event are decorated by local community members and area businesses, and then raffled off through the weekend to help support the Humane Society. They're then delivered just in time for the holidays.

This year's event takes place Saturday, December 7, 2024 from 10am – 7pm and Sunday, December 8, 2024 from 10am – 4pm.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, and $6 for kids aged 4-12.

Takeaways:

• The Festival of Trees celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, showcasing local creativity and community spirit.
• Attendees can expect a winter wonderland filled with decorated trees, live music, and bakery treats.
• Funds raised at the Festival of Trees directly support the medical needs of shelter animals.
• The event provides an opportunity for the community to learn about various animal services offered.
• Volunteers are essential for the festival, helping with setup, decorations, and event activities.
• The Washington County Humane Society relies heavily on fundraising events to enhance their shelter services.

Links referenced in this episode:

• wchspets.org

Well, good day, friend.

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Thank you so much for tuning in

to Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

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I hope you are having the best week.

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Some of you might be driving to

Thanksgiving to see your family.

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Some of you might be Doing

some early Christmas shopping.

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And some of you might be horrible

deer hunters that listen to

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podcasts in your tree stand.

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I see you.

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Yeah, but I appreciate you.

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And I'm sure the deer appreciate

you listening to me instead

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of their little hooves.

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Walking through the brush.

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My name is Fuzz Martin, and this is a

show about positive things happening in

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and around Washington County, Wisconsin.

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And this week we're talking about

the upcoming Festival of Trees at

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the Washington County Humane Society.

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And I'm joined by Joe Poczkalski and

Jessica Pillsbury, and we're going to

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learn all about the event, the trees, the

animals, and how you can enjoy it all.

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And with that, here are 15 minutes

on the Washington County Humane

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Society's Festival of Trees.

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With Joe Poczkalski and Jessica Pillsbury,

right here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

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Joe, Jessica, thank you so

much for coming in today.

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Can you please start by telling

us a bit about Festival of Trees?

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How did it get started?

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What makes it unique?

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What's cool about Festival of Trees?

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Joe Poczkalski: Yeah, this is our

25th anniversary one, and we're very

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excited to celebrate that milestone.

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Myself and the director, Kay, at

the Humane Society, we're looking

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back at some old photos from the

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Wow.

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Really cool to see where it

started and where it began.

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Our previous director, Marnie

Brown, came up with the idea in

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the late 90s, and it was a hit.

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It took off, and the first festival

really set the groundwork for, you

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know, Successful at fundraisers then on.

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So really unique in the fact that, all

of our decor is decorated locally by

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businesses and individuals, families,

in whatever fashion they want.

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We really don't put a lot of guardrails.

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So, um, we have a lot of people who

are really pro tip on their, their

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creative capacity, which is exciting.

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We get some really cool,

unique ideas that come through.

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So I don't see a whole lot of

that in the area, which, which I

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think makes it really unique and

makes it really one to stop at.

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Fuzz Martin: So, for people who

have not attended Festival of Trees

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before, can you walk us through

what a guest at Festival of Trees

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could expect, at this year's event?

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What are some of the highlights

they can look forward to?

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Jessica Pillsbury: Absolutely.

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So I like to describe it as

walking into a winter wonderland.

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You really can't describe it to

people until they have been there

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and to get the whole picture.

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But you walk into a room full of

Christmas lights and decorated trees.

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The trees all have a theme, there's

wreaths, there's holiday decor,

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and then we have live music, a

cafe, a bakery, and then we also

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have adaptable animals for viewing.

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Great.

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Excellent.

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Yeah.

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Fuzz Martin: Oh, always bringing it

back to the pets is, the best part about

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the Washington County Humane Society.

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Joe Poczkalski: That's right.

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Fuzz Martin: Joe, you had mentioned

before about, you, it briefly touched

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on, how the, or who decorates the

trees, but can you talk about really the

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process of how the trees are decorated,

created, decorated, designed, how,

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how does that process go about and

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Joe Poczkalski: really, like,

what, how A ton goes into it.

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This is a massive, massive

display we're talking about.

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The decorating starts

pretty much right now.

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I think, within the next week or so,

we'll be inviting, people who sponsor

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trees to come by and start decorating.

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We call them deck decorating

parties and they're a lot of fun.

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Oh, cool.

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Sometimes we serve wine, but

we have snacks and coffee

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and people, really have fun.

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They bring decor in.

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We have the tree set up for

them or the wreath available.

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And they can come in and start, and

we give them whatever tools they need.

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We sometimes give out hammers and

wire cutters and all sorts of crazy

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stuff, so we really encourage that.

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But, that part of it begins early

November and will go pretty much up

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until the night before the event.

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Fuzz Martin: So, how does this event,

and we've talked about some of your fun

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events in the past here on the show,

but how does this event, the Festival

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of Trees, benefit You know, the animals

and the programming that you have

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at Washington County Humane Society.

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Can you share a bit about how

the funds that you raise here at

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Festival of Trees helps make a

difference at the Humane Society?

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Jessica Pillsbury: Absolutely.

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So we very much rely on our fundraisers.

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to, fund what we do at the shelter.

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So you're really making a difference

by just attending our events.

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A lot of the medical needs that

we have for the animals, that's

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what most of our money goes to.

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That's basically the, the biggest part.

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Yeah.

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Joe Poczkalski: The impact, um, the

money raised, is, was really impressive.

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We're closing in on a million

dollars raised at this particular

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fundraiser at the 25th, 25th

anniversary, which is really exciting.

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So yeah, it's huge impact medically.

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And just helps us introduce

new programs, strengthen our

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current ones, that sort of thing.

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Fuzz Martin: It's been

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And that was the year that we all partied.

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That's right.

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I, um, let's see, I was

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Fun.

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So, I don't remember it completely.

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Um, because I was working that year

because there was a big snow storm.

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Studying too.

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But, are there any special stories

from Festival of Trees that stand out

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to you in your years that you've worked

for Washington County Humane Society?

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Any?

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Uh, moments that captured the joy

or any stories that people talk

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about, maybe that have been there

for a while, at the Humane Society.

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Joe Poczkalski: I'm going on about four

years, at the shelter of my employment.

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So, there's a long history before

me, but, we almost had a fire.

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Oh, wow.

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Okay.

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A year and a half ago.

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Oh, wow.

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Okay.

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We had a stanchion cord that

was a really old one, probably

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from the 1999 Festival of Trees.

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Oh, wow.

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Okay.

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Bundled into some cotton, and one

of the guests saw the plume of smoke

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rise, so, you know, it was a small

isolated thing, never turned into a

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fire, but one of those heart pounders

that I remember, not a fun memory,

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but, um, So if you could donate

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Fuzz Martin: extension

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Joe Poczkalski: cords,

if you're listening.

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We'll take them.

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We use a lot of extension cords.

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We should actually do a

count on how many we use.

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It's, we have two giant totes

full of small extension cords.

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So,

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Fuzz Martin: a fun

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Joe Poczkalski: statistic.

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Fuzz Martin: How many trees typically

get decorated during this event?

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Jessica Pillsbury: I would

say last year we had 64.

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And I think if you include

the trees, holiday decor, and

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wreaths, we had about 115.

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Fuzz Martin: Wow.

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Okay.

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Displays in total.

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Yeah.

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Oh, very good.

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How could people from the community

participate in the festival?

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Are there opportunities

for people to volunteer?

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Uh, donate, this episode, we're recording

it a little bit earlier in November

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than the people who are hearing it.

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It's coming out in, later

November, but, are there

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opportunities to sponsor trees yet?

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Those kind of things?

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Jessica Pillsbury: So, sponsor

trees, we usually have to know

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about a month ahead of time.

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Okay.

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But for the future, for next year,

we're always looking for tree

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sponsors and holiday decor sponsors.

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You also can be an event sponsor,

and then we also are looking

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for just volunteers in general.

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So, volunteers, that could be you're

helping in the cafe during the event

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itself, selling raffle tickets, or you

could be helping set up the month prior.

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We have tons of different set up days

where you can help fluff trees and put

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trees together for those decorators.

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Fuzz Martin: Okay, are these, are

these Fake trees, or are they?

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They are fake trees, yes.

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So, okay, so when you said fluff trees,

I'm like, oh, they're not, nobody's

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out there fluffing a blue spruce.

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That's right.

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All right.

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So, aside from the trees and, and

the wreaths and such, are there other

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activities or events going on during

Festival of Trees that people can

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participate in, and look forward to?

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Jessica Pillsbury: Yeah, well, I

think the biggest thing is the raffle.

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So, why people come is to have

the fun experience there, right?

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But then on top of that, they can also buy

raffle tickets and potentially win a tree.

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So the plus side to that is that

your tree is already decorated,

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ready to go before Christmas.

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So that's pretty exciting.

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And then you have a themed

tree for your house.

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Yeah.

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But other than that, we have live

music, we have a cafe, bakery,

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and then the animals are there.

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We're actually going to be conducting

play groups during the mornings this

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year, where you can watch the dogs play

in groups, in our courtyard, which is

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visible throughout the entire shelter.

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Fuzz Martin: That's wonderful.

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It's a reason to go all by itself.

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Yeah, I would agree.

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Remember why you're helping.

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Yes, exactly.

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Okay, so again, it, it started

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It should be very easy for me to

calculate that, 35, 35 years ago.

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Twenty five.

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Twenty five.

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Twenty five.

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Twenty five years ago, right?

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Twenty five.

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Twenty five years ago.

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Yep.

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Epic, where we're sitting here, is

thirty five years, because it was

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started in nineteen eighty nine.

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So, I should have, I

should have just known.

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But I am in marketing and not in finance.

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Um, I'll second that.

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Yeah, same, same.

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So, okay.

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So, it's been around for a while.

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How has it evolved from, back when

it first started, or even, let's

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say, You know, a decade ago till now.

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Joe Poczkalski: The shelter

renovation had a lot to do with that.

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We had a 7 million reimagination

at the shelter that ended

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just a couple years ago.

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So that was a major step

up for all of our events.

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We have a beautiful training center.

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The Sylvia Letts Training

Center, we call it.

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And it's just so much more inviting now.

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Our old shelter, which, We had, the Ricky

Room, we called it, which is where most

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of our at shelter events were set up,

and, it's, you know, we looked at those

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pictures from 99, it's, it's a different

place completely, so having the physical

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space to, to set up and have it be more

presentable, more inviting for people,

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more accessible, , is definitely a leg

up, but in terms of popularity, the event

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is, is growing exponentially each year.

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We're closing in on a million

dollars, like I mentioned.

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Mm-Hmm.

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. And that just means more people

are attending, enjoying and,

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and, spending more time.

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So, sure.

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In that way it's, it's grown so much.

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We, we do so much more,

to showcase our animals.

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Like Jess mentioned the play

groups, which is really cool.

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Fuzz Martin: Yep.

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Joe Poczkalski: Um, so

yeah, more things to do.

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More, more time spent.

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Great.

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In

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Fuzz Martin: 1999's defense, we

all didn't have cell phones with

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cameras in our pockets then.

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I think we had cell phones.

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I don't think they fit in our

pockets, but we had cell phones.

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Right.

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In your cars, right?

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Yes, exactly.

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Big ol Magnum antenna.

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How do events, well, first of all, how,

how is the community response to an event?

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Like, obviously you've raised, uh,

to, to date a million dollars or more.

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But how is the community response to this?

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Joe Poczkalski: It's, it's massive.

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It's one of our better attended events.

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That and our rummage sale are our

two most attended, and we welcome

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honestly thousands of people.

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So it's People spread the word, make

it a tradition, which is what we

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hope, that people come back every

year, and we see that, we see repeat

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people and new people every year.

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Fuzz Martin: Sure, and then obviously,

since they come, that helps spread

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awareness about animal, or about the

shelter, and then I hope then that

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means you're spreading awareness about

animal welfare and the work that you

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guys do throughout the year, right?

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Jessica Pillsbury: I think that's my,

like, favorite part is that we invite

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so many people in that would not

have came to the shelter originally.

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And then they're able to

see our great facility and

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participate in this awesome event.

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And then they learn the

other services we provide.

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So, a lot of times people think of

a shelter if they're, if they're

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wanting to adopt, but there's

other services that we provide.

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We have, an outdoor cat

clinic, dog training classes.

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And we also are there for the community

when they need to surrender their animal

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because of difficult things in their life.

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Sure.

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Fuzz Martin: You could say that

might be Community Impact, right?

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Jessica Pillsbury: Yes, it is.

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Fuzz Martin: And that might

be what your role as Community

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Impact Specialist is then, right?

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We have

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Joe Poczkalski: clarification now.

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Fuzz Martin: There we go.

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See, I didn't ask you what you do,

you got to tell us through a story.

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Um, so, do you have any goals or

specific needs that you're hoping to

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reach during this year's festival?

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Jessica Pillsbury: I guess just to,

you know, raise a little bit more

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money than last year, for the animals

and then to invite, more people in

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the community that have not been to

the shelter into our shelter to show

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them, you know, what we do for the

community and how we can help them.

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Fuzz Martin: Speaking of the animals, are

there any, like little influencer animals

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or ambassadors that you'd have, this year?

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Any, any animals that

stand out in particular?

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Jessica Pillsbury: So

we are lucky to say no.

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Okay.

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In the past, we've had

animals for over a year.

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Sure.

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I can think of, I, off the top of

my head, a handful of different dogs

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that were there for over a year.

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Mm-Hmm.

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. But this year all of

'em have been adopted.

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Good.

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I mean, our cats are getting homes

right away, which is awesome.

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Yeah.

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Mm-Hmm.

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. But we will have plenty of

animals that are around available

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for adoption during this event.

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Fuzz Martin: Great.

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I, I realized as I, as I was, as I

wrote that question, I was like, well.

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Yeah, that might be a fun question.

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And then I thought, well, you don't

want the animals to stay there.

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They want to go home with families, right?

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It's, it's bittersweet, like,

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Joe Poczkalski: yeah.

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It's great to give them the

attention because they need it.

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You know, there are long stays

and we need them into homes.

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Jessica Pillsbury: In 2022,

we had a dog named Millie.

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She was a white pit bull and she

was there for exactly a year.

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Okay.

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And when I would go to the pet

store or even to Starbucks, I'd

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be wearing a Washington County

Humane Society shirt or hat.

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Fuzz.

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cc And people would literally

ask me, how is Millie doing?

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She was literally the spokesperson for the

shelter for that whole year she was there.

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We're lucky that we don't have

any spokes animals right now.

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Um, but yeah, we've

definitely, they've been there.

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Fuzz Martin: Yes, so, but go and find the

right animal for your home and family.

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How has support for, uh, from

the Festival of Trees allowed?

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been one of the Washington County

Humane Society to expand or

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enhance services over the years.

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Joe Poczkalski: Well, just mentioned

we rely very heavily on our

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fundraising events, which is very true.

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A large percentage of how we operate

depends on how successful our events are.

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So this one's critical.

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Our highest grossing one, typically,

throughout our, our fundraising season.

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So, that will determine, which

season, which services we can

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enhance, which ones, if we want

to start new ones, improvements

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to the building, things like that.

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How much we can spend on

advertising our services.

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So it's, we're very

dependent on its success.

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Fuzz Martin: Somebody can't make it to

the festival this year, are there other

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ways that they can support the Humane

Society, or what are some of the other

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ways they can support during the holidays?

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Joe Poczkalski: They can, donate

during this giving season, which

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is, which is very important.

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We have, an appeal coming out, in

just a, just a couple weeks here,

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so, helping in that regard.

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Donating, volunteering, at other events

or around festival trees is also really

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important too, but, Giving this time of

year is vital to our success as well.

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Fuzz Martin: Excellent.

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What do you personally love most?

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I'll ask both of you about festival trees.

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Jessica, we'll start with you.

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Jessica Pillsbury: I would say, watching

families of all ages, there's grandma

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and grandpa there, there's the kids,

and they step foot into that room,

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like I said, Winter Wonderland, and

their faces just light up with a smile.

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It's just a really fun, unique

experience that we're lucky to be

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able to provide for the community.

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Fuzz Martin: Excellent.

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Joe Poczkalski: Joe?

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I would say before I started at the

shelter, I was kind of a Scrooge around

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the holidays, and I still am in some

regards, but it's really hard to deny

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the beauty of stepping in that room.

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It's such a shocking moment when you

see all the work, and you think of all

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the work that goes into it, and all

the time and effort that was spent.

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Great.

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That's my favorite part.

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Fuzz Martin: Again, if somebody would

like to attend, what are, what are

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the dates for Festival of Trees?

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Jessica Pillsbury: It is December 7th

and 8th, that is a Saturday and Sunday.

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Fuzz Martin: Okay.

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Jessica Pillsbury: On Saturday

it's going to be from 10 to 7,

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and on Sunday it is 10 to 4.

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Fuzz Martin: Okay.

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How much does it cost to get in?

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Joe Poczkalski: That's 8 for

adults and 6 for kids and seniors.

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Jessica Pillsbury: Okay.

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Fuzz Martin: And, if somebody would like

to learn more, what's, what's the website

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for the Washington County Humane Society?

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Joe Poczkalski: That's wchspets.

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org.

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Fuzz Martin: All right.

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Very good.

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And, , again, really appreciate all you

guys do for pets in our local communities.

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And, we'll see you next time.

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Love the support that the community gives

to the Washington County Humane Society,

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and it's always fun to have you guys in.

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So, happy holidays to you both,

and thank you both for coming in.

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Thanks for having us.

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Appreciate it.

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Thank you again to Joe Poczkalski

and Jessica Pillsbury for joining me

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on this week's episode of the 132nd

episode of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

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If you ever have an idea for a

guest for this show, please do not

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hesitate to get in touch with me.

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You can email me fuzz at fuzzmartin.

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com.

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That is fuzz at fuzzmartin.

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com.

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You can suggest a guest at fuzzmartin.

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com slash guest.

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That is fuzzmartin.

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com slash guest.

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Or you can text me 262 299 FUZZ.

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That's 262 299 3899.

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And I hope you have the

most enjoyable Thanksgiving.

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I'm thankful for you as a listener.

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And I'm thankful for all the great

people, events, and organizations that

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we have right here in Washington County.

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And with that, I will talk

to you next week, right here

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on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.