This Saturday afternoon’s holiday tree lighting tour will make 12 stops across Dorchester. It’s a tradition that dates back to the 1990s when a committee of volunteers and the mayor’s office— then led by the late Tom Menino— sought to “light and unite” the neighborhood.

For almost as many years, the tree in Fields Corner has been perhaps the most festive on the route, thanks to a holiday arts program that engages children and their parents through the MCYF Marshall center and the Fields Corner BPL.

“Making these bird ornaments teaches students about the richness and diversity of nature, particularly relevant to Dorchester and surrounding neighborhoods having lots of birds,” explains Leslie MacWeeney, who has coordinated the effort.

“I like sharing my interest and knowledge of birds with the students - many of them don’t realize the variety of birds that live in their city. We study local perching birds, examining get shape, colors, and patterns. Students have a choice to create a true to life representation or an entirely imaginative use of color and pattern. The bird shapes are pre-cut out of roofing felt and gesso is then applied to make the colors of the oil pastels the students use brighter. Public art, they learn, has to be strong to be seen, often from a distance!”

Firefighters from Engine 17/Ladder 7 (Meeting House Hill) helped out by putting the ornaments up. This Saturday’s tree lighting ceremony in Fields Corner is set for Saturday (Nov. 24) at 6:20 p.m. The tour begins in Neponset Circle at 4 p.m. and ends in Lower Mills at 7:20 p.m.