This year the town of Wareham had the chance to give back to the community and decorate for Christmas while enjoying the tree lighting at Town Hall with the newly formed Gateway Chamber of Commerce's Festival of Trees.

Twenty-one pre-lit, decorated trees were donated by various Wareham businesses and organizations. Many kept within the theme of their business, such as Morse Lumber's tree which was decorated with wooden ornaments.

The trees were put on display in the Town Hall Auditorium during the tree lighting ceremony and tickets were sold to raffle the trees off. All the proceeds raised from the raffle tickets will go towards benefitting needy families in Wareham during the holiday season.

"All we've heard today is 'Oh, I wish I knew,' " said Executive Director Patricia Muraco, explaining that she and the chamber planned the festival in roughly three weeks. She added that they're planning on holding the event again next year.

Despite many Wareham residents not knowing about the event, Muraco said the tree donations were "overwhelming" for the first year.

Chamber board member Bernie Sohn expressed similar sentiments.

"It's beautiful," he said. "A lot of these trees are not inexpensive."