The second-annual Chadron Winter Festival of Trees at the Dawes County Courthouse opened this week with 35 specially-decorated trees on display through December 21st.

The Festival of Trees is sponsored by the Fur Trade Days Committee, and committee co-chairman Merle Morford is excited about the number of trees this year…10 more than for last year’s first festival.

Morford says there was no overall theme for the individuals, families, businesses, 4-H clubs, churches, and others who decorated trees, just the instructions to pick their own theme that reflects their own interests.

They did their work right in the courthouse, and Morford is especially excited about the tree done for the Dawes County Courthouse itself by local elementary school students.

The courthouse in Chadron is open for the Festival of Trees Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 6 pm now through December 21st.