It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
One of the highlights of the Edison and Ford Holiday Nights are the Christmas trees decorated by Lee County school children which make up the Children’s Tree Trail. Unfortu-nately, Pine Island Elementary School had never had a tree at Holiday Nights.
“Mrs. Van Duzer, our art teacher, came to me at the beginning of the year and brought the subject up,” said Principal Rob Mazolli. “I knew we had never had a tree so thought it was a fantastic idea. We discussed it and decided to go for it.”
Gloria Van Duzer contacted the Edison/Ford Estates.
“They were pleased our Pine Island Elementary would be participating for the first time,” she said.
But Van Duzer soon realized making the ornaments would take some special care.
“The ornaments need to endure the elements which can include rain,” she said.
Van Duzer chose to use lightbulbs of various sizes and shapes as the basis for the ornaments.
“Of course, we had to take out the element so the metal part that screws into the socket had to be removed,” she explained. “Also, the students wanted to incorporate glitter in some of the ornaments, but that could not be applied to the outside.”
The glitter problem was overcome by coating the inside of the bulbs with a clear glue, pouring some glitter inside and shaking to get good coverage.
“We plugged the end with faux gemstones and glue,” Van Duzer said. “We needed to use outdoor commercial grade glue so all the kids had to wear surgical gloves.”
The tree will be decorated at the Edison/Ford Estates on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and parents and children will be able to attend an open house on Nov. 30 to see their magical creation.
“From what I see so far of the creativity on the part of Mrs. Van Duzer and her art students, I know the tree will be beautiful and do Pine Island Elementary proud,” said Mazolli.
Edison and Ford Holiday Nights are open to the public from Dec. 2-31 from 5:30 until 9 p.m., except on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.