Christmas Tree Creativity Is Focus of Les Cheneaux Annual Auction

Aclose-up view of a few of the spiders on the Christmas tree shows the detail of the ornaments.

The Les Cheneaux Historical Association's annual Christmas Open House and Tree Auction will start Friday, November 23, at the Historical Museum in Cedarville, and continue for three weekends. It is the fourth annual open house and tree auction, and gives the public a free opportunity to visit the museum, enjoy refreshments, and see the museum decorated for the holidays. A decorated tree and a wreath will be given away as door prizes. Everyone who visits the museum can register.

The association will also sell boat show apparel and gift items, including Scandinavian paper star tree ornaments made by curator Annegret Goehring, balsam scented bags and Christmas tree ornaments hand-painted by Pat Wilson, and handmade bird feeders and houses designed by the late Harry Harris,

The open house will feature an extensive Charles Dickens collection loaned to the museum by Dorothy Fletcher of Drummond Island. The collection includes dozens of books by the British author, including the holiday tale, "A Christmas Carol."

Les Cheneaux Islands summer visitor Mary Stein of Traverse City (center) admires a glass bead spider on the Christmas tree created by her friends Jane Kologe (left) and Margie Denoyer. Both women live in Cedarville, and spent nearly a year making the 41 spider ornaments for the tree. They stopped at the Les Cheneaux Historical Museum Saturday, November 17, to give their friend an early peek at trees that will be featured in the museum's upcoming open house and auction starting Friday, November 23.

This year, 20 small trees designed and decorated by local artisans, businesses, and volunteers will be offered at auction through December 9, when bidding will close at 3 p.m. Winning bidders will be announced after the auction closes. Over the years, the tree auction has raised more than $4,000 for museum operations and Historical Association activities.

The open house and silent auction will be open weekends through December 9, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The museum is on Meridian Street in Cedarville. Admission to the museum is free, and homemade cookies, juices, and hot, mulled cider will be served.

Each of the 20 auction trees is decorated in a theme, many with handmade ornaments that can be removed and used for home and Christmas tree decorating.

The following trees will be auctioned:

Acorns, Berries, and Cones - Helen Shoberg crafted rustic ornaments out of burr oak acorns, pine cones, berries, and wheat.

Angels - Dianne Schmitigal made angels from ribbon, and hung crystal angels around this tree topped with a star made from gold roping.

Bears - Pat Duncan decorated this tree with bear-themed ornaments and festive colors.

Birchbark Ornaments - Kate Ter Haar filled a tree with handcut white birch bark ornaments including stars, paper chain, and oak leaves, plus berries, cattails, lichens, milk weed pods, and a real bird's nest.

Cardinal Bells - Red cardinal bird bells and pine cones decorate this tree by Norine Rudd. The tree is topped by a large polar bear and moose bow.

Christmas Spider - Handmade, glass bead spiders dangle from this unique, white tree decorated by Margie Denoyer and Jane Kologe. The winning bidder will receive 41 boxes and copies of the legend of the Christmas spider, a tale about the origin of tinsel and garland as a holiday decoration. Many of the 41 spiders are made with antique and special beads, and a group were beaded with the colors of Big Ten and Cedarville teams.

The Cookie Tree - Gail Herron collected gingerbread men ornaments, tiny kitchen utensils, and festive colored ornaments to assemble this whimsical tribute to the cook.

Crocheted Wonder - Janet Hagen hand crocheted, starched, and applied glitter to snowflakes, bells, angels, and other holiday symbols. A crocheted skirt decorated with poinsettias completes the tree.

Gingerbread Tree - Martha Tassier and Bertha Carr collaborated on making stuffed fabric gingerbread boys and girls for this tree, topped with a Santa Claus gingerbread man. Each ornament is unique.

Holiday Snowflakes - Amy Kohlmann and Georgie Haupt crafted sparkling snowflakes, trees, and holiday expressions like "Joy" and "Noel" out of beads for this tree. A festive red ribbon is woven through the branches to set off the decorations.

Les Cheneaux Victorian Tree - Kate Otsot represented the Les Cheneaux Area Artisan Cooperative by decorating this tree with color reproductions of antique postcards depicting former Cedarville and Hessel hotels prior to the 1950s. Victorian-era styled ornaments also decorate the tree.

Nature Cuttings - Annegret Goehring brought her signature craft to this tree, creating dozens of tiny scissor cutting designs of flowers, trees, landscapes, stars, and snowflakes, among other natural features.

Playful Penguins - Wendy Lopes cross-stitched whimsical penguins in different scenes on circular ornaments. The ornaments are rimmed with ribbon.

Santa Tree - Decorated by First National Bank employees in Cedarville, the comical tree features bulbs with hand-painted Santa Claus belts and other Santatheme ornaments, including a large belt woven throughout the tree.

The Sisters Tree - Mary Hill and her three sisters, Frances Shoberg, Ireta Vaught, and Sally Smale, spent their winter in Florida making angel and star ornaments out of seashells they collected from the shore. The smiling angels have hand-made heads of clay, and scallop shell bodies, while five shells glued together create the stars on the tree.

Snowflake Tree - A sampling of ornaments from Katydid's of Hessel holiday collection decorate this tree.

Snowmen - Pennie Clymer crafted snowmen from slices of twigs. The snowmen wear plaid scarves and a twig star tops the tree.

Winter Wonderland - Roxanne Large decorated a tree with shiny icicles, silver poinsettias and bows, and machine crocheted snowflakes. Each snowflake is different.

Woolderness and Ewe - Roxanne Eberts and Pat Wilson collaborated on this tree to make handmade, felted snowmen ornaments, teddy bears, sheep, and other soft, wool figures. Yarn balls and a pair of felted wool mittens top the tree.