Deck the Trees blankets the Swannanoa Valley in warmth

Annual fundraiser debuts new format in 15th year

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
December 19, 2025

Deck the Trees, which supports the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry Fuel Fund, has returned for its 15th year. All 52 trees, decorated in the them of Christmas in Music & Song, are displayed at local businesses in Black Mountain and Swannanoa. Photo by Fred McCormick

Every year since 2011, a growing tradition has returned, each holiday season, to the Swannanoa Valley, spreading cheer while raising money to support local residents in need of heating assistance. 

While Deck the Trees branches out from its roots at the Monte Vista Hotel, a new format for the festive contest supporting the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry Fuel Fund includes a record number of entries.

Fifty-two trees, each decorated in accordance with the theme, Christmas in Music & Song, are on display in Black Mountain and Swannanoa, with entries representing local businesses, organizations and clubs. The Monte Vista, which has hosted Deck the Trees since its launch, will begin a yearlong renovation process in January, causing the fundraiser to alter its format, according to organizers.

“It came together through an enormous amount of work,” said Deck the Trees Committee Chair Kat Achtemeier. “We normally have 26 trees in the Monte Vista, so we had to find homes for those. When we appealed to businesses, and they opened their arms to us.”

Peri Social House agreed to feature nine trees, with Tyson Furniture Co. displaying four and the White Horse with three. Two can be viewed through the State Street windows of Town Hardware & General Store. As 34 locations around the valley contain entries, on display through Monday, Jan. 5, nearly two dozen local businesses and individuals are sponsoring the fundraiser.

The public is encouraged to view the trees and give $1 per vote, by cash or check, while unlimited voting for all trees is permitted. Each entry also includes a QR code allowing for online options. A brochure containing all locations can be downloaded at svcmblackmountain.org.

Deck the Trees raised a record $126,000 last year, elevating its total contributions to the SVCM’s heating assistance program to $460,000 in its first 14 years.

Community members give $1 per vote when selecting their favorite entries in Deck the Trees, which runs through Jan. 5. Photo by Fred McCormick

“It has grown every year,” said Achtemeier, one of 11 people on the committee that organizes the fundraiser, nearly year-round. “Obviously, we don’t know if we will top last year’s numbers, because there were so many factors last year. It was right after the storm, our diamond sponsor Givens Highland Farms suggested we go ahead with it, and they were absolutely right, because people gave like they have never given before.”

The local need for heating assistance is even greater this year, according to Kevin Bates, director of the SVCM, which provided support for hundreds of families last winter.

“This year, we have already given away more money for heating assistance than we ever have at SVCM,” he said. “Up to this point, it’s been about $175,000, which has either paid for heating bills, fuel oil and even some propane.”

Federal cuts and a shortfall of state funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) has compounded the challenges faced by many in the Swannanoa Valley, which experienced a historic natural disaster less than 15 months ago, Bates added.

“We’ve got folks who were already so far behind and now they are forced to make hard choices,” the director of the nonprofit said. “A lot of people started this year off behind, coming out of Helene, and unfortunately those struggles are still a reality for many.”

While Deck the Trees is designed to assist those in need, Achtemeier said, the annual fundraiser simultaneously spreads holiday cheer to area residents and visitors while demonstrating the community’s capacity for generosity.

“This event is a true community effort,” she said. “Just this year, if the White Horse hadn’t opened their doors to us to serve as a headquarters, it would have been much more difficult for us to organize it. Then, Peri Social House stepped up and graciously allowed us to display nine trees there, plus so many local businesses welcomed the opportunity to host trees.”

Deck the Trees, a local tradition that raises money to provide heating assistance within the Swannanoa Valley, is taking place at 34 businesses in Black Mountain and Swannanoa through Jan. 5. The fundraiser supports the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry Fuel Fund. Photo by Fred McCormick

That level of support is something organizers of Deck the Trees have witnessed before, she added.

“COVID dealt us a huge blow, but that year, thanks to businesses graciously allowing us to expand out into the community, the fundraiser actually grew,” Achtemeier said. “I think since then, one of the most exciting things to see has been the community itself coming to the realization that it plays an essential part in this annual tradition that helps people across the Swannanoa Valley.”

While the tradition began as a simple display in the Monte Vista, it was organized as a fundraiser in its second year. Multiple current sponsors have been supporting the event since its inception, establishing a reliable and vital source of revenue for the SVCM Fuel Fund.

“Deck the Trees is very significant for us,” Bates said. “We never know how much we will raise on any given year, but any time a nonprofit organization is looking at allocating $175,000 for heating assistance, and Deck the Trees is able to support that with over $100,000, as it has in the past, that allows us to do more than double the work to keep people warm in their homes.”

It also allows the 50-year-old SVCM, which operates a food pantry, housing program for single mothers and free health clinic, while acquiring nonprofit home repair organization Hammer & Heart earlier this year, to increase its funding for other essential services, he added.

Local organizations, including the Black Mountain Fire Department, are participating in Deck the Trees, which raises money for heating assistance. The fundraiser, which allows participants to vote for their favorite entries through donations, will run through Jan. 5. Photo by Fred McCormick

“As I look at the budget for SVCM, I’m always trying to consider the best ways to use the resources we have to make the biggest impact possible in the community,” Bates said. “We really hone in on keeping people in their homes and keeping people warm in those homes, and these two things are the most critical things we do.”

The committee that organizes the fundraiser is key to the ministry’s ability to keep pace with rising energy costs.

“We are so grateful for this group of people,” Bates said. “Every year they do an amazing job, and i think that’s why we’ve seen it grow the way it has.”

The effort, which involves regular monthly meetings and thorough plans beginning early each year, is rewarding, according to Achtemeier, who joined the committee in 2019.

“Once I learned about it, I immediately found this group’s work to compelling,” she said. “I didn’t mind hard work and I also knew this was a way to help local people with a very essential need. We can keep people warm, and this has always felt like a wonderful way to do it.”