SALISBURY — Folks hoping to express their creativity while making their community a little more festive will want to visit Salisbury Public Library for the second annual Season’s Wreathings.
The event began last year, with wreaths donated by the Friends of the Salisbury Public Library for people to decorate however they desired, with the finished products adorning the library’s meeting room.
“We had a blast and a half,” Library Executive Director Terry Kyrios said.
This year, wreaths were made available Nov. 17, with folks having until Dec. 8 to submit entries if they wish to partake in a raffle. The winner will be announced on Dec. 21 with participants able to collect their wreaths following the raffle drawing.
Kyrios said that they were blown away by the response from the community last year.
“It was huge. We thought we’d get about 10 people that wanted to make wreaths, and we ended up at 32,” Kyrios said.
She spoke about how the idea for the event came to be.
“I have an incredibly creative staff and the assistant director Janina Majeran and the children’s librarian at the time, Joan Cox, they were kicking around ideas and that’s what they came up with,” Kyrios said.
Majeran shared how happy she was to see such a good turnout for the new tradition.
“It was really exciting because you never know how things are going to go with library programs. You’re either going to get a ton of engagement, mediocre engagement, or none at all. So it was really exciting,” Majeran said.
Kyrios said she loves seeing all the different creations.
“In fact, one of my staff members made one all out of natural materials that she got in the woods and in the beaches. So it could go from the ridiculous to the sublime,” Kyrios said.
She said the first wreaths for this year’s event to be completed soon.
“I imagine after Thanksgiving, they’ll start coming in because people will talk about them around the table,” Kyrios said.
Kyrios noted that the activity is a great way for families to bond.
“We found a lot of people did them with their children, whether they were grandparents and grandkids or whether they were just parents and children,” Kyrios said.
Folks have the opportunity to fill out a form with their name and phone number and to allow the library to display their wreath in order to be entered into the raffle. Kyrios said the prize this year is a surprise.
“Usually it’s some kind of prize in the $25 category. We often have door prizes if we have a speaker. And if the speaker has a book, the friends will buy a copy of the book and we’ll raffle that off as well,” Kyrios said, referring to the Friends of the Salisbury Public Library.