Staff Reports
The Poplar Bluff Museum will host its annual tradition of hosting the Christmas Tree Forest starting with an open house Sunday.
This year will feature 12 trees from area schools with the theme "Christmas Traditions Around the World" that will be judged with winners receiving $100 prizes. Students make the decorations and art teachers or another school representative decorates the tree at the museum, located at 1010 North Main St. in Poplar Bluff.
The forest, which started in 2000, will be open to the public from 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free with punch and cookies served. Voting for the People's Choice Award will end at 3:45 p.m. with the winner announcement to follow.
There will also be awards for best ornaments, best tree topper and best under-the-tree display with two categories for each -- elementary, through sixth grade, and secondary schools.
Participants include: Poplar Bluff's O'Neal Elementary (Kimberly Wynne, teacher), Oak Grove Elementary (Wynne), Kindergarten Center (Fawn Luecke), Lake Road Elementary (Avis Lourance), Middle School (Morgan Barks), Junior High (Brandon Francis), Senior High (Meg Daniels), Sacred Heart Catholic School (Kathryn Henry), Westwood Baptist Academy (Janice Gray), First Baptist Church School (Robyn Dickerson) and Twin Rivers-Fisk Elementary (Kayla Wombles).
The museum, which features historical exhibits for Poplar Bluff and Butler County, will also be open from 1-4 p.m. Sunday afternoons in December.