Christmas Tree Festival gives and glitters
The Fort Myers Beach Woman’s Club helped nonprofits help themselves with its Christmas Tree Festival & Auction, which took place Dec. 13 and Dec. 14.
The event combined a chili-tasting contest with entertainment and refreshments amid the backdrop of glistening trees to raise money and gifts for various organizations in the town.
Local nonprofit organizations fitted the trees with ornaments and other items for the auction, with the proceeds from each tree benefiting the group that put them together.
The Turtle Time display was one of the more colorful of the show with a faux palm tree adorned with toy turtles, a large stuffed turtle beside it along with Barbie Dolls, a Turtle Time T-shirt and hat on a large rug featuring a turtle on the beach. The winner of the tree also received a private viewing of a sea turtle hatching release. That package ended up getting auctioned off for $500.
One of the more creative trees was the one Friends of the Mound House put together, titled “Chrysalis Christmas.” Though the whitish tree, like most at the event, was fake it was fitted with ornaments of butterflies, olive shells, chrysalis and Florida’s state shell horse conch. Along with the tree, the winning bidders received free kayak tours at the Mound House. Mound House board member Gayle Crabtree-Pergoli said the festival and auction was an example of how the local nonprofits work together. “Our goal is to help each other and not compete,” she said.
Bringing in the top figure of $800 was a tree fitted with a few dozen wine bottles from the Chamber of Commerce.
Woman’s Club treasurer Mary Torgerson said there were fewer trees entered this year though they brought in more per tree. The Woman’s Club offered three trees, with one going for $500. The winning bidder chose to give the tree and its toy contents to the Beach Kids Foundation, Torgerson said.
Five boxes of toys and a bicycle were collected for the Beach Kids Foundation as part of the chili-tasting contest, Torgerson said. There were 14 entries into the contest, which resulted in a tie between the white chicken chili of defending champion Reid Freeman (chef at Smokin’ Oyster Brewery) and the reindeer venison chili of Local Planning Agency member Dan Allers. Torgerson said she enjoyed the gator chili entered by the Tuckaway Cafe. “The flavor was amazing,” she said.
Torgerson said the proceeds from the three trees the Woman’s Club sold will aid them in running their building at Sterling Avenue. The club rents out the space to other nonprofit organizations and community members for events. “A lot of other nonprofits have activities here,” she said. There is also a regular bridge card game every Tuesday and Friday at the Woman’s Club from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The festival featured performances by the Cypress Lake Orchestra, Dance Warehouse dance team and Southwest Florida Drill Team. Food was on hand from Carballo’s Family Catering and Love Boat Ice Cream.
Mayor Anita Cereceda was moved by the assembled Christmas trees. “Walking in here just makes me want to cry because this is just an extraordinary group of women. They have brought a wonderful new tradition to the town,” she said.