With Thanksgiving behind us, many towns have now lit their Christmas tree. But in Punxsutawney, they actually have more than a dozen trees. We have more on how this tradition got started.

it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Barclay Square, with 19 trees, each one decorated differently.

“This is a really nice way to have something in town that represents Christmas, that gives the people something to go look at and enjoy,” says Rotary Club president Tammy Curulli,

The club’s chairman for the event says the tradition started in 2007, the year after a large artificial tree in the middle replaced live ones.

Originally, they wanted to light the actual large trees around the perimeter of the square.

“We really quickly identified that that was not even going to be possible, simply from the large logistical issues, but also from the standpoint that there’s just not enough electricity,” says member and Circle of Trees chair Thomas Chelgren.

So, the club members came up with a different approach.

“Looking at our bandstand, it is circular, and so it just lent itself to the name Circle of Trees,” says Chelgren.

Organizers say this is the 10th year for the Circle of Trees, and it’s a little different this year. There’s no theme and no winner.

“Our groups started saying that it was starting to become just a little bit too difficult,” says Chelgren.

For example, last year, the theme was Sounds of Christmas. But, fitting so many trees into one theme can be hard, so they’ve come full circle to what they did the first year, simply asking the groups to do something that represents their group.

“Everybody got to do whatever they thought is the best thing for their group and decorate their way,” says Carulli.

The Rotary Club says they raise funds from sponsors and about $4,000 will be divided among the groups.

Chelgren says he recently heard about one family that makes a tradition of coming to look at the trees after their annual dinner around Christmastime, and that makes the organizers feel good.

“It’s the root of why we’ re doing this is this creates memories for kids,” says Chelgren.

The trees will be up through sometime in January.