Nearly 200 dog related ornaments hang from a Christmas tree as you enter the Poplar Bluff Museum. Next to the dog themed tree is a spruce filled with squirrels, chipmunks, deer and other woodland creatures.
The annual Poplar Bluff Museum's Christmas Tree Forest decorating has begun in preparation for Sunday's open house from 1 to 4 p.m., where the community is invited to see all the decorated trees.
The theme of this year's trees are Christmas animals and area students made ornaments to fill trees inside the museum.
"What kid doesn't want a dog for Christmas," Lake Road Elementary employee Avis Lourance asked as she strung paper dog chains around a Christmas tree.
The inspiration of dogs as great Christmas presents came from the school's therapy dog, Airial, who will be a part of the school's tree on Sunday, Lourance said.
"After we picked dogs because of Airial, my head started spinning on everything I could think of involving dogs," she said.
Students in first through third grade at Lake Road Elementary constructed dog themed ornaments over the last three weeks including dog houses from milk cartons, dog faces out of food cans, fire hydrants with toilet paper rolls and tennis balls from clear ornaments.
When the students made the tennis balls, Lourance said she told the students to write their dog's names on the ornaments and then draw a big dot with four smaller dots around it to make paw prints.
"The kids worked very hard to make the ornaments," she said.
The older students also got in on the Christmas tree decorating fun.
Meg Daniels' art appreciation class at Poplar Bluff High School chose the theme of arctic animals for their tree.
Daniels said her 30 students enjoyed a project out of their normal realm of assignments.
"I wanted the kids to experiment," Daniels said when giving them free range with the animals of their choosing and materials.
The Christmas trees will be judged on several criteria including best ornaments, best tree topper and best under-the-tree display.
During Sunday's Christmas Open House, attendees will vote on their favorite tree for title of People's Choice. Voting will conclude at 3:45 p.m. and the winner will be announced at 4 p.m. The entire community is invited to attend.
Admission to the Poplar Bluff Museum, at 1010 N. Main Street, is free and cookies and punch will be provided.
The museum will be open on Sunday, Dec. 10 and 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. as well as Saturday Dec. 23 and 30 to view the trees.
Participants include: Poplar Bluff Kindergarten Center, teacher Fawn Luecke; Poplar Bluff O'Neal and Oak Grove Elementary, teacher Kimberly Wynne; Poplar Bluff Lake Road Elementary, teacher Avis Lourance; Poplar Bluff Junior High, teacher Brandon Francis; Poplar Bluff High School, teachers Elizabeth Rose and Meg Daniels; Fisk Elementary, teacher Kayla Wombles; Sacred Heart Catholic School, teacher Tabitha Hensley; and Westwood Baptist Academy, teacher Janice Gray.