PITTSFIELD - Nothing could replace a Christmas tree adorned with cherished family ornaments. But for a different take on that holiday icon, visit the Berkshire Museum's 23d annual Festival of Trees, which continues through New Year's Eve. The event is sponsored by Legacy Banks Foundation, and proceeds benefit education programs at the museum.
Two hundred decorated trees fill the museum's 5,000-square-foot special exhibitions gallery. All reflect this year's theme, "On the Move." Among the most striking, said Sherrill Ingalls, the museum's marketing director, is the General Dynamics tree, featuring a giant glass globe in which a train travels through a village, and the Interprint display, in which a full-size tree seems to emerge from a stack of shipping crates, reversing the normal sequence of wood-to-manufactured product. The largest item is the JiminyPeak tree, nearly 25 feet tall and with a wind turbine at the top.
Free holiday exhibits include a display of vintage windup toys dating from the 1930s to the 1970s; model planes and trains; and antique skis, skates, and sleds.
Festival of Trees, Berkshire Museum, 39 South St., 413-443-7171, ext. 10, berkshiremuseum.org. Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday noon-5, through Dec. 31. Galleries close Christmas Day and at 2 p.m. on Dec. 24 and 31. Adults $9, seniors $7.50, children ages 3-18 $6. Festival admission includes all museum galleries. Directions: Pittsfield is about 140 miles or 2 1/2 hours from Boston. Take Interstate 90 (Mass. Pike) west to exit 2. Merge onto US 20 west. After 11 miles stay straight on South Street. The museum is on the right side, opposite the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
ELLEN ALBANESE
