Beacon to present 10th annual Holiday House of HOPE
The Beacon of HOPE is making final preparations for its 10th annual Holiday House of HOPE, to be held Dec. 5, 6 and 7 at Tarpon Lodge.
The event kicks off on Family night, Thursday, Dec. 5, with a family friendly menu, as well as crafts and games, face painting, story time with the Pine Island Library and performance by the Pine Island Elementary Choir. Santa will arrive by boat at 5:15 p.m.
“What I’d like to emphasize this year is this is our 10th anniversary of Holiday House,” Elsie Stearns said. “It’s also our 9th year at Tarpon Lodge, which is the perfect venue for Holiday House. The Wells family have been very generous. This event has become such a family tradition.”
The theme is “Vintage 1926,” the year that Tarpon Lodge was built. Jeff Mahl will have his antique car for vintage photos on all three nights.
Stearns set a goal of raising $100,000 from this year’s Holiday House.
“I already have three contributors that have donated $10,000 each and we’re hoping to find others who will match that,” she said.
“The Table Top trees are back to be auctioned off and once again we will auction off our artists’ tree,” Stearns said. “This tree gives us an opportunity to show off the incredible talent of our local artists. The tree has over 200 hand-painted ornaments from our local artists. This is a ‘home-grown’ one-of-a-kind tree that was very successful last year and will once again be auctioned off!”
This year’s sponsors include Farmhouse 44, The Reel Chase, CW Fudge Factory, Sanibel Soul Jewelry, Pine Island Attic Holiday Bazaar, Artist Mel Meo, Sweeny’s SOS, Bokeelia Craft Co-op, Salty PaPa Designs, Pine Island Tropicals and Tagua Jewelry.
Featured authors include John Mills, Marty Ambrose, Jeff Mahl, D.L. Havlin and Mary Kay Stevens.
During the Holiday House, the Tarpon Lodge will be open for dinner and the bar will be open for drinks.
Dinner reservations are strongly recommended.
Hours for the Holiday House of HOPE are Thursday, 4-7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 5:30-10 p.m.
The Tarpon Lodge is at 13771 Waterfront Drive, Pineland, on the Bokeelia end of the island.