CAMDEN – The reading room at the Camden Public Library was alive with activity Monday, December 5, as members of the library and First National Bank gather to put the final touches on the Mitten Tree. The tree is sponsored by First National Bank.

Angie Sabins, Branch Manager for First National, said the bank has been doing this every year for 18 years.

"We gather up a bunch of hats and mittens," she said. "Sometimes we go buy them and people donate them. We pick a day and we all go up to the library and decorate it with mittens and have our picture taken putting the items on the tree."

Ken Gross, assistant director at the library, said people are very generous with hats and mittens for the tree.

"We pack it all up and take it to the SOS room at Heavenly Threads which is part of the First Congregational Church," he said. "The SOS room is their free room so these donations go directly to the local community."

Gross said the tree has been up since Thanksgiving.

"Its only been up a week and as you can see it's almost totally covered with hats and mittens," he said. "We encourage people to bring hat and scarves, anything that would be warm and useful this year."