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  • Cailee Goddard, a student of the Pro-starts Culinary Arts class at ACT, hands out napkins to Tiffany Blake so she can make a choice from an assortment of holiday-themed goodies. Chris Tilley

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  • A tree created by ACT’s welding class was on display in the main lobby of the ACT training building during the annual Festival of Trees. Chris Tilley

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December 20, 2011

A one of a kind Festival of Trees

ACT hosts annual Christmas event

By Kara Van Pelt Register-Herald Reporter

Christmas trees, door prizes, refreshments and delicious treats, ‘a la the culinary program’s tree, helped make Monday’s 11th annual Festival of Trees, hosted by the Academy of Careers and Technology, a huge success again this year.

With 29 trees packing the house, the crowd was thick while festive music helped those in attendance get in a festive mood.

Principal Charles Pack explained what makes this tree festival one of a kind.

“This is the ACT’s 11th annual Festival of Trees and we have each one of our programs build a tree that reflects the program they are in. It’s all about the use of material, the skills and technologies their program has,” he explained. “For instance, carpentry builds one out of lumber and wood, the electrical use conduit, programmable logic controllers. Some of the electrical trees you see out here, two of them may have $4,000 to $5,000 worth of electronic equipment that are controlling the lights — which may be overkill — but it showcases the skills each program offers.”

And there are plenty.

The criminal justice program had a tree complete with yellow crime scene tape, and a criminal Santa behind bars. His fingerprints had already been taken and the display said Santa was charged with breaking and entering.

The culinary program had a tree decorated with edible treats, which drew individuals in.

The pharmacy tech program’s tree boasted bottle after bottle of fake prescription drugs, while the LPN program decorated its tree complete with fake blood, syringes and fake organs.

But it was once again the welding program’s tree that brought a lot of oohs and aahs.

The welded tree was handcrafted, painted and wired by students. It boasted an intricate design of scrolls on each limb to enhance its appearance. Students used 124 feet of metal, 172 scrolls, 347 welds and 2,200 lights. The wiring alone consisted of 28 man-hours, its display read.

Pack explained why this festival has become a tradition.

“This is just a way for the general public to come in and learn about what we do, and for parents to come and see their child’s work. It basically helps spread awareness about ACT,” Park said.

“The community can come and learn what the career technical education is about; it is something different from academic schools, but it is still an important aspect of education here in Raleigh County,” he said.

Past festivals have brought crowds as large as 700. Pack said, with weather cooperating, he was hoping to hit the 1,000 mark Monday night.

And if the Festival of Trees inside wasn’t enough to showcase the talented students at ACT, a man created an ice tree by sculpting ice with a chain saw at the entrance of the festival.

Each person was given a coin to place with his or her favorite tree. Even though one particular tree has been a crowd pleaser in the past, “The welding tree always gets a lot of buzz. They actually sell it every year and has gone as high as $800,” Pack said. However, this year, there are so many creative and unique creations, the winning tree will be hard to choose, he said.

For more information, visit http://wvact.net.

— E-mail: kvanpelt@register-herald.com

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