The annual Festival of Trees worked its holiday magic again Tuesday, transforming Liberty Hall into a holiday wonderland and raising funds for a Lawrence social service agency.

“I always think of this as the kickoff to the Christmas season,” said John Tacha as he looked out over more than 50 decorated Christmas trees at this year’s festival.

“It’s a fun night,” Tacha said. “It makes me think of the old days.”

Dozens of people showed up for the Festival of Trees benefit for The Shelter Inc., an agency that provides emergency residential care for children with special needs. The trees, decorated and donated by various community groups, were auctioned off during the evening’s festivities.

The trees sported various decoration themes, including golfing greens, American Southwest pottery, holiday cards, family photos, even miniature ambulances and fire trucks.

The primary decoration for a tree donated by Prairie Commons were real bird nests painted gold. Tanya Green, a groundskeeper at Prairie Commons, said the idea for the tree started last year when one nest was included as a decoration.

Judy Culley, executive director of The Shelter, was pleased with the results.

“We’ve been doing this for 16 years, and it always amazes me how people keep coming up with ideas,” she said.

Fund-raising totals from this year’s event were not available Tuesday night. Organizers hoped to match or top last year’s event, which brought in $43,000 for The Shelter.