Holiday fundraiser this weekend for Athol, Royalston historical societies

ROYALSTON – A holiday wreath sale this weekend will benefit the Athol and Royalston historical societies.

The festive decorations are being made by Michael Adams of Royalston, the president of the Athol Historical Society. He said wreaths are a family tradition going back 45 years.

“This year, I think more than any other year, because of tariffs and inflation, I was kind of worried,” he said. “I was asking myself ‘How do we get all the things we need to do a fundraiser and still turn a profit?’ Thankfully, we have more donations of decorations than we’ve ever had. Every day I come home and find a bag of Christmas decorations on my side porch.

“I just want to point out that our community is being very thoughtful,” he continued. “They’re giving back decorations that we used the year prior or simply decorations from their own homes. So this makes me feel like this is more than just a fundraiser – it’s the community giving back.”

While Adams does most of the work himself, he does have a group of volunteers who chip in when they have time.

“I would be embarrassed to say how many man-hours this all takes,” he said, “but I will say we’re going to make about 10 dozen this year, and five dozen of them are already spoken for.”

The wreaths are $50 each. The proceeds go into the general fund of each historical society and helps with maintaining their buildings and organizing events. Adams said in recent years the fundraiser has brought in around $4,500.

“Because of donations and people being so generous, we don’t have to raise the prices this year,” he said. “I definitely was worried about that. Even just the raw materials went up 25 to 30%.”

The wreath sale takes place at Adams’ home, 9 On the Common, Royalston, from Friday, Nov. 28, to Sunday, Nov. 30. Hours on Friday and Saturday are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Payments can be made in cash or check.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.