Holiday shopper Ruth Ward carefully examines each ornament, from the fire hydrant perched in the treetop to the dog biscuits and pictures of animals hanging from the branches.
L The tree is a creation of the Churchville Veterinary Clinic.
Mrs. Ward, a resident of Bel Air, moves on to check out the next one, unsure yet of her choice for the best decorated tree.
The trees are part of the Festival of Trees at Harford Mall, a project that benefits the Steppingstone Museum in Havre de Grace.
Businesses and community groups decorate a tree, which is supplied by the museum, for an entry fee of $200. Shoppers vote for their favorites by dropping quarters into containers next to each tree.
The tree that gets the most money by Jan. 8 will be declared the winner, and its sponsor will receive the honor of having the tree displayed at the center of the mall during next year's holiday season. That spot is occupied this year by a tree decorated last year by the Churchville Veterinary Clinic.
"This is a wonderful way for businesses that generally don't have the opportunity for visual promotion to let the public know what they do," said Alan Anderson, the project's chairman and a museum board member.
Mr. Anderson proposed the Festival of Trees as a museum fund-raiser last year after seeing a similar project in Pittsburgh.
"This is so interesting, so wonderful, so clever," Mrs. Ward says as she continues to judge each tree before casting her vote.
Mrs. Ward eventually settled on a tree glowing in gold and decorated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as her favorite.
Deejay Jeff Thompson's tree is topped with a microphone, and compact discs and musical notes are its ornaments; pill boxes and medicine containers adorn a tree by the Medicine Shoppe; garlands created from penny wrappers and pictures of bank managers on $20 bills are part of a tree decorated by First Virginia Bank. Anderson-Mayer Photography's choice of ornaments includes wedding bells and pictures of brides.
Kefauver Lumber Co. decked a tree with light bulbs, a white chain garland, washers and drawer pulls. Dr. Leo V. Trail, a periodontist, decorated his tree with dental floss, toothbrushes and shiny Christmas balls painted with happy white teeth.
The Rock Spring Village retirement home's tree is decorated with heart-shaped frames holding pictures of residents on the tree branches.
This year's festival includes 15 trees, but Mr. Anderson said that next year there will be room for 40 -- 20 on each side of the mall's south hallway adjacent to Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and Montgomery Ward. About $5,000 was raised for the museum last year, Mr. Anderson said.
"Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors -- BGE, Woolworth & Co. and Jarrettsville Federal Savings & Loan Association -- who provided the seed money to purchase trees and lights -- we had no expenses, only profits," he said.
Proceeds from the Festival of Trees help the museum survive the winter months, said Linda Noll, Steppingstone's director. "This is a time when we don't have any other source of income, but we still have to pay the electric bills."
Steppingstone Museum, a private, nonprofit organization in Susquehanna State Park near Havre de Grace, depends on dues and donations to run the 19th-century farm operation.
The museum inlcudes blacksmith, carpenter, decoy carver, cooper, dairy, farm and garden tool shops and a weaving room. A canning house is expected to open soon.
The museum is open for tours from May to October and sponsors several functions throughout the year, including a Christmas open house.