Sponsors named for 2009 Festival of Trees

COURTESY PHOTO The Festival of Trees starts Nov. 27. The 2009 Festival of Trees announces several sponsors who will help to present this year’s holiday showcase. The Home Depot is the event’s Starlight Sponsor, while this year’s Twinklelight Sponsors include Stephen R. Bowen Construction, Westco Builders of Florida and the Hotel Indigo. The Butterfly Estates is a Candlelight Sponsor of the event.

The Festival of Trees is one of Southwest Florida’s premier holiday showcases and the Tux and Trees Gala (www.tuxandtrees. com) is the signature fundraising event of the Southwest Florida Goodwill Foundation. In the event’s first two years, the festival and gala have raised nearly $100,000 to support Goodwill’s mission of helping people with disabilities and other disadvantages overcome their barriers to employment and independence.

For the third consecutive year, The Home Depot has been an integral part of the Festival of Trees, by donating all of the pre-lit holiday trees that will be decorated by local businesses, organizations and artists, and auctioned off as part of the Tux and Trees Gala.

“It thrills us to see so many businesses and people who want to be a part of the Festival of Trees,” said Carolyn Johnson, Goodwill’s vice president of career development. “We really couldn’t do this without the support of great sponsors.”

The Festival of Trees is a week-long holiday celebration that begins the day after Thanksgiving (Friday, Nov. 27) with a free showcase of beautifully decorated Christmas trees at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in the Fort Myers River District. Last year, more than 3,000 visitors attended the festival, which continues through Wednesday, Dec. 3. The holiday celebration culminates in “Tux and Trees,” a black-tie gala on Friday, Dec. 4. This elegant evening features a live auction of decorated trees and a silent auction of lavish holiday wreaths and other items. Tickets to the Tux and Trees Gala will be available after Nov. 1 on www.tuxandtrees.com.

To become a Festival of Trees sponsor or to donate an item to the Tux and Trees silent auction, contact Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida at 995- 2106, ext. 249. 