Folk music has been part of a strong tradition in our town for many many years. Every year we have the annual folk music festival and invite folk bands from all over the nation. Some travel as far as 10 hours or more to make our wonderful celebration. The festival does not only consist of music it is also full of award winning artist, crafters, and caterers. Every booth is voted for among 100′s of vendors and in the end “the people” vote for their favorite booths and foods.

The best part is walking around the later in the evening on the last day to see who won each award. It’s a huge honor to be recognized among the best of these very talented people. The trophies are usually beautiful crystal awards with the festival logo engraved at the top and the category directly below.

These crystal awards can be displayed beautifully anywhere among their booth and in their home. It’s always fun to see new crystal awards awarded to new and upcoming artists because it’s a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.

Every year my neighborhood has a Christmas decorating contest. All the parents with young kids get into it the most because, not only do they have the neighbors to please, they also have their little ones to please. It has become a great tradition in the town because every year someone completely surprises us with their creativity. Not only does it make a beautiful drive through the town it also brings everyone together to discuss the challenges they went through like adding the star to the chimney or the plastic Santa to the roof.

Every year the winners are awarded with a fun Christmas award to display in their home. Many keep their Christmas award out all year and others only display them around Christmas time to match the decor. The neat thing about this whole event is that it brings the community together in a fun competitive way. Once the Christmas season is over it is always sad to see the bare homes once again but excites you even more about the following year.