Nine decorated wreaths were on view to the public during Wreaths Around the Holidays 2024, an inspiring event that happens each year during Wiscasset Holiday Marketfest in early December. Local businesses are invited to decorate a wreath, which are then put on display in the Holiday Gift Shop in the Nickels-Sortwell barn. Part of the appeal of this popular feature is inviting shoppers to vote for their favorite, and, at the end of Marketfest weekend, the People’s Choice winner is announced. In 2024, the TREATS wreath won.

Treats employee, Brie Soares, who is frequently behind the counter helping customers, was the designer of the winning wreath. “I think it’s a lovely event,” she wrote in an email, “and I do some wreath making for friends and family at home. I don’t make wreaths except (for) what I find in my backyard and the surrounding forest for neighbors and family.”

A striking component of Soares’ wreath were the colorful, dried flowers, which, according to the designer, were gomphrena, nigella pods, and hydrangea, about half of which were grown in her summer garden and the rest purchased from a local flower farm. “My design was based on the elements,” she wrote, “I tried to include a representation of the four elements.”

The other eight businesses that submitted stunning wreaths to Wreaths Around the Holidays were First National Bank, First Federal Savings & Loan of Bath, Friends of Wiscasset Public Library, Garden Club of Wiscasset, J. Edward Knight & Co., Maine Health Primary Care, Water Lily Flowers & Gifts, and Wiscasset Ambulance Service.

At the end of Marketfest, the decorated wreaths were donated to the assisted living communities, Edgecomb Green and Richmond Eldercare. According to Wreaths organizer Chelsea Taylor-Smith, “when I dropped off the wreaths at Edgecomb Green the nurse I spoke with was SO appreciative. She couldn't wait to show the residents and said they were going to enjoy them so much.”

Photos of all the Wreaths Around the Holidays 2024 wreaths and photos of previous People’s Choice winners can be found on www.WiscassetHolidayMarketfest.com. Wiscasset Holiday Marketfest is a program of Wiscasset Creative Alliance.