Sweet Escapes: The Festival of Trees

I kicked off the Christmas season this year at The Arc Tampa Bay’s annual Festival of Trees. The Festival of Trees is the largest fundraising event of the year for The Arc Tampa Bay, a not-for-profit organization that provides services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. All proceeds from the admission tickets and Christmas tree sales go directly to supporting the special needs community. This year the event grew to include over a hundred trees, from 2-feet to 7-feet tall, decorated by local businesses, artists and families.

I was amazed by the creativity and hard work that went into the trees. Each one was different. There was an ugly Christmas sweater tree, trimmed with tiny sweaters, knitting needles and balls of yarn. There were trees covered with flowers, nutcrackers, gingerbread houses and Barbies. There was even a Gasparilla tree, strung with beads and pirate paraphernalia. And since this is Florida, of course there were several trees with beachy themes. One of my favorite trees was “The Magic of Harry Potter”. It was topped with a stuffed Hedwig owl and a sorting hat, and decorated with golden snitches, glasses, wands and “Free Dobbie” socks. So imaginative!

Each year the festival’s presenting sponsor, AmeriLife, creates a feature tree to be raffled. The theme of this year’s tree was “How the Seuss Stole Christmas”. The top of the huge tree leaned over Mount Crumpit-style and underneath were all of Dr. Seuss’s books and a life-sized Grinch. I would have bought raffle tickets if I’d had any place to put such a big tree. :-)

Although the Festival of Trees is over for 2018, here are a few pictures to get you into the holiday spirit.
Merry Christmas, Everyone!

For more information about The Arc Tampa Bay, click here.