Community unites to rescue Punta Gorda’s tree lighting tradition

The City of Punta Gorda announced the cancelation of this year’s annual Christmas tree lighting event, but neighbors are stepping in.

The city announced it was canceling this year’s Punta Gorda Light Up The Night event, saying it was unable to host it.

The decorations were stored in Herald Court, which flooded during the storms, but neighbors aren’t going to sit down and do nothing.

WINK News reporter Esly Davis met with some of them to discuss what’s being done to save the event.

It was almost lights out on the Punta Gorda annual Christmas tree lighting event this year until a group of Santa’s helpers came together, parents, firefighters, contractors, electricians, and all types of community neighbors to save Christmas.

Garrett Kizer, the owner of Charlotte Harbor Construction told WINK, “There was some talk about the tree may have been damaged, or that the decorations were damaged.”

From reindeer and wreaths to ornaments and tree branches, all got flooded out during Hurricane Milton.

William Dryburgh, the vice mayor of Punta Gorda said, “I had a bunch of calls from parents and from city people that wanted something to happen in the city. Because of all the damage and devastation, they wanted some degree of normalcy within the city, and they want the tree to try to be lit you know, we need to find out what was wrong.”

The Punta Gorda community rolled up their sleeves to keep the Christmas spirit alive.

“They didn’t have any location in the city to spread everything out, so the airport volunteered a building to store it in, and then a place to lay everything out,” explained James Parish, the CEO of Punta Gorda Airport.

The tree, built to withstand weather, was put through tests and the results sparked hope.

“They tested every branch. They all work,” said Dryburgh.

“We know the tree is definitely going up, which is going to be awesome. The community deserves it. The kids deserve it, who have been practicing with their singing and dancing to do that on stage downtown, and the business owners downtown, who have now been flooded twice, they deserve it,” said Kizer. “So I’m hoping the city council makes the right decision here in the next week or so.”

So far, it’s looking good, and the tree is on track to be lit up on Dec. 6 in downtown Punta Gorda.