On Saturday, December 4th, hundreds of children, their parents and guardians poured into Clearwater’s Winter Wonderland as Santa turned on the lights for the 28th Annual Winter Wonderland. The Holiday village is on the northeast corner of Drew Street and N. Ft. Harrison Avenue, in downtown Clearwater. The event is sponsored by the Clearwater Community Volunteers (CCV) and the Church of Scientology.
Helping Santa turn on the lights were: Neil Brickfield, the Executive Director of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Police Athletic League; Lisa Mansell, PR representative for the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization; and Pam Ryan Anderson, the chairperson for CCV.
“For almost 3 decades, our Winter Wonderland has had an unbroken record as a safe, family fun festival,” said Mrs. Anderson. “This Holiday ‘village’ is every child’s magical playground where they can decorate cookies with Mrs. Claus, visit with Santa and his elves, ride the Winter Wonderland train, and take a spin on the human gyroscope.” It is the dedicated cadre of the Clearwater Community Volunteers who spend over 5,500 hours to build, prepare and man each Winter Wonderland.
Winter Wonderland will be open Wednesday to Sunday through December 19th as well as December 20 – 23 from 6 pm to 9 pm. For more information, please visit ccvfl.org. There is no cost to attend. However, guests are encouraged to bring a new unwrapped gift or non-perishable food items to help families in need. There is a small charge for some activities and the food items at Rudy’s Café.
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About the Clearwater Community Volunteers:
Clearwater Community Volunteers (CCV) is a non-profit, charitable organization made up entirely of volunteers and was founded by parishioners of the Church of Scientology in Clearwater. Known for its large signature events, CCV produces the huge Easter Egg Hunt in Coachman Park, Fashions with Flair fundraiser fashion show and “Winter Wonderland.” CCV gets its inspiration from the quote by L Ron Hubbard, “Love and Help Children.” CCV has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past 28 years for charities such as Nourish to Flourish, Shriners Hospitals for Children Tampa, Boys and Girls Club of the Suncoast, Homeless Empowerment Program, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Police Athletic League and The Children’s Home, Inc., the oldest orphanage in Tampa.
Entrance to Winter Wonderland is free but we ask visitors to bring a non-perishable food item and/or an unwrapped toy. The toys and canned goods are donated to local area charities, such as the Homeless Emergency Project sponsored by Everybody’s Tabernacle.
CCV will be treating PAL kids and the kids at a couple of homeless shelters with Easter goodies.
This is a multi-course dinner with wine pairings, prepared by the Tampa Bay’s top Chefs, and features curated live entertainment pairings for each course.
CCV will be helping PAL with their back to school event.
This event includes a silent auction, great food and a fabulous fashion show with VIP models. The exquisite fashions featured are from local area boutiques. The huge silent auction had something for everyone with well over 300 items, and much more.