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Date: 11/12/2020
GRANBY – Volunteers working to renovate and restore Kellogg Hall will host their first ever Festival of Baskets.
Granby resident Cindy Gaspari is one of several individuals who make up the Granby Preservation Society, and dedicate their free time to overseeing and raising money for the renovations to Kellogg Hall. The hall, which Gaspari said was purchased by the town for just $1 years ago, is seven months into a $1 million restoration project.
Gaspari told Reminder Publishing the volunteers are a “dedicated group of people that put a lot of time and energy into the restoration” of the hall, which is located on 250 East State St. “It’s a labor of love,” she said. The goal of the restoration, she said, is “to showcase the building to people in town and people in neighboring towns.”
To help with the cost of the restoration and to kick off the holiday season, the Preservation Society hosts a Festival of Trees celebration. Gaspari said typically during the celebration, dozens of artificial Christmas trees adorn the hall. People are able to walk around enjoying the display and purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win the tree of their choice. “We usually have about 47 artificial Christmas trees. People come in, buy raffle tickets, walk around, and put tickets in for a tree they’d like to win,” she explained.
However, this year with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the group was unable to host their traditional Festival of Trees. Despite having to cancel their Festival of Trees, the Granby Preservation Society was determined to host a celebration to continue on their path to restoring the building. This year, for the first time, they will host a Festival of Baskets.
This year’s festival, Gaspari said, is similar to their previous events, however, instead of trees people will be purchasing raffle tickets for pre-made baskets that were donated by local organizations and community members. When Gaspari spoke with Reminder Publishing a week before the Halloween deadline, she said they’d received about 40 baskets and donations. “Looks like as far as donations, we’re doing extremely well,” she said.
By the time of press, however, the number of items to be raffled had increased to more than 60. Gaspari said there was “something for everybody.” She said there were many unique baskets up for grabs including “a dog bag with chew toys, one with nothing but chocolate, [a] basket with the makings of a margarita, a Fortnite basket, one that’s got nothing but candles from local artisans, [one that is] baking supplies, [one has] spaghetti and a couple bottles of wine [and a] ladies spa basket.”
In addition to baskets, she said raffle items also included bird houses, holiday wreaths, kissing balls, grape vine snowmen, outside lights that project Disney characters onto homes and gift certificates for Randall’s Tree Farm in Granby. For those interested in purchasing tickets to enter into raffles, the Granby Preservation Society will make raffle item photos and their descriptions available in a few different ways.
Raffle items, along with the descriptions, will be available through the Granby Preservation Society’s Facebook page and online at https://www.granbypreservationsociety.org/festivalofbaskets-2020. Gaspari said the society will also be putting together a binder with items and descriptions for viewing outside of Kellogg Hall on Nov. 21, Nov. 22, Nov. 28, Nov. 29, Dec. 5 and Dec. 6. She said on those dates they will also be collecting donations for tickets. Lastly, Gaspari said the society is hoping to post items and their descriptions on the bulletin board outside of Kellogg Hall. “In case they want to see what it looks like real quick,” she said.
She said there is a suggested donation of $1 for a single ticket or six tickets for $5.
Gaspari said people are able to purchase raffle tickets by going online at https://www.granbypreservationsociety.org/festivalofbaskets-2020 and using PayPal, or by printing out the form, which can also be found online, and mailing it into the Hall with a check. However, she said, “If you’re not comfortable printing off [the form,] put your name, phone number and basket numbers and we’ll take it from there.”
She said, however, she knows some people may not be comfortable submitting payment through the mail or online. This, she explained, is why the society is offering a select number of appointments for those who may not feel comfortable paying in the recommended ways or not comfortable navigating a computer. “We are doing appointments if people are not all that computer savvy. Some folks don’t feel comfortable, we realize that, [but] we can’t have the crowds,” she said.
Those participating in the festival will have until Dec. 6 to purchase tickets for the item(s) they hope to win. Gaspari said all the money raised from the Festival of Baskets will go toward the continued restoration of Kellogg Hall. Those interested in scheduling an appointment to view baskets and/or items up for raffle should email Gaspari at cedg14@gmail.com.