"It was hard, but we had to do it and it's great because the Windsor people are able to give this gift to anyone who comes and visits." Tina Castelli of People 4 Parks said this to Northern California Public Media in 2024. She was explaining why the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Grove had begun limiting who could adopt a tree.
The gift goes to everyone who visits. The work belongs to Windsor. In 2026 the grove opens to the public on Thursday, Dec. 3. By then, most of the dates that matter to a Windsor household have already passed or are only days away.
A display only locals can build
People 4 Parks Windsor, the nonprofit also known as the Windsor Parks and Recreation Foundation, opened 2026 adoptions on Sept. 15 to Windsor residents and to Windsor businesses with a storefront in town. No one else could adopt. The adoption window on Eventbrite ran through Sunday, Oct. 25, and sales have now closed. The listing calls this the event's 18th year and promises more than 200 live trees decorated by local families, classrooms, service groups and businesses.
The residents-only rule came out of demand. In 2024, Castelli told Northern California Public Media that sponsored trees had sold out by the first weekend of October. She said the group had started limiting adopters a few years earlier, and that eligibility was down to Windsor families, storefront businesses and schools. The same report said planning for that year's grove started in June.
The proceeds stay in town. People 4 Parks says it formed as a group of community organizers in 2012, and its first project paid for a new playground on the Town Green. In 2024 Castelli described the group's other work in Windsor parks, including nesting boxes for owls and refitting tennis courts for pickleball. Sponsors pay for the event in two ways. Their logos go on postcards and, for larger sponsors, on two banners at the grove, and the names of larger sponsors run in radio spots on four stations, two of them Latinx stations. In return, sponsors get the tallest trees in the grove, 5.5 to 6 feet.
The resident calendar starts before the lights do
The Town Green's busiest month is mostly prepared by the people who live around it, starting the first weekend in November. Here is the sequence, using the Town of Windsor's 2026 Fall Guide, the People 4 Parks grove page, the Windsor Certified Farmers Market calendar and the Town event calendar:
| Date | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 7, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. | Seasonal Decoration Swap & DIY Holiday Greenery | Huerta Gym, 9291 Old Redwood Hwy. |
| Wed., Nov. 11, 11 a.m. | Veterans Day Ceremony | Town Green |
| Sun., Nov. 22 | Thanksgiving Tastings at the farmers market | Town Green |
| Nov. 23–Dec. 16 | Letters to Santa mailbox | Town Green |
| Sun., Nov. 29, noon | Community decorating opens | Charlie Brown grove |
| Wed., Dec. 2, 8 p.m. | Every adopted tree must be decorated | Charlie Brown grove |
| Thu., Dec. 3, 5–8 p.m. | Holiday Celebration & Tree Lighting | Town Green |
| Dec. 3–Jan. 1 | Grove open all day, snowfalls at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. | Town Green |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 1–4 p.m. | Repair Fair and Seasonal Swap | Huerta Gym |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Farmers market season finale | Town Green |
The two Huerta Gym swaps fall on either side of the decorating window, the first three weeks before and the second three days after. The Nov. 7 greenery session comes well ahead of the Nov. 29 start. The Letters to Santa mailbox works on a deadline too. The Town asks for letters by Dec. 16 with a self-addressed return envelope so Santa can reply.
The farmers market finishes the year in the same stretch. It is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, holds its Thanksgiving Tastings on Nov. 22 and closes for the year on Dec. 6, three days after the tree lighting. Market events run 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Four days to decorate, and rules written for December rain
Decorating opens at noon on Sunday, Nov. 29. Every tree has to be finished by 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 2. People 4 Parks says an undecorated tree will be given to another group. Adopters get a map and tree list by email within two weeks of decorating day. The grove is laid out in named sections: Bosque, McClelland East, McClelland West, South Diagonal, North Diagonal and Along the Arbor. Each tree is found by its number on the map and a name label.
The rules assume a wet month. People 4 Parks says plainly that it expects rain and wind in December, and the instructions are written around that.
- Power: each barrel has its own live socket plug. Adopters may not move it or swap in another plug.
- Lights: outdoor-rated LEDs only, with no solar transformers. A tree with non-LED lights gets unplugged and tagged.
- Water: lights go on from the bottom of the tree up and never lie in the top of the barrel, which fills with rainwater and shorts them out. Every connection and open cord end gets black electrical tape.
- Ornaments: weatherproof and firmly attached. No food, dough or biscuit ornaments, nothing held on with Elmer's Glue or contact cement, no plastic zip ties or excess wire, and no homemade electric or battery-powered toppers.
The rules carry consequences after the holidays. Trees are to stay decorated until closing night, Jan. 1 at 8 p.m., and adopters have until Friday, Jan. 8 at 9 p.m. to take everything down. A tree stripped early, or left for volunteers to clear, gets tagged for future eligibility. People 4 Parks suggests arranging for someone else to take down the tree if the household will be out of town. Since adoption is limited to residents, the rules decide which households can keep their place in the grove from one year to the next.
Castelli named decorating days as her favorite part. "I love to see the grandpas sitting repairing the ornaments and the little kids grabbing them immediately and putting them on the tree," she told Northern California Public Media in 2024. That year the Sonoma County Gazette counted 225 barrels on the Green, with 224 trees and one menorah.
Thursday, Dec. 3, when the Green opens to everyone
The decorating deadline is Wednesday night, and the public part starts the next evening. The Town's Holiday Celebration & Tree Lighting runs from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 3, and the Fall Guide lists the grove as open all day from Dec. 3 through Jan. 1, presented by People 4 Parks and the Town of Windsor. The nightly snowfalls continue at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Last year followed the same pattern. A Press Democrat column from Dec. 9, 2025 reported that the 2025 celebration fell on Thursday, Dec. 4. Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived on a fire truck, local youth performed on stage, the Windsor Certified Farmers Market ran a Holiday World Market, and SMART added a late train with its last departure from Windsor at 8:09 p.m. Those are 2025 details. The market's posted 2026 calendar has no Holiday World Market and ends with the Dec. 6 finale, so check for this year's opening-night extras before you plan around them.
After the 7:30 snowfall
Last year's column pointed out a timing problem: the celebration ends at 8 p.m., right after the evening's second snowfall. This December there is somewhere close by to go afterward. Sonoma Magazine reported that Spur Saloon, a country-western bar, opened in August at 9000 Windsor Road, across from the SMART station. It took over a vacant brewery and tasting-room space, and its owners also run Grata Italian Eatery. Spur is open 4 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday. On opening night, Thursday, Dec. 3, that leaves about three hours after the Green closes. On weekend nights, the 7:30 snowfall can turn into a later evening without leaving downtown.
When we price a home near the Town Green, we add details like these to the seasonal story. Berg Group is happy to share what we know about Windsor's walkable December, and if you'd like to see homes within strolling distance of the grove, request a tour.
