Longboat Island Chapel kicks off Christmas in the Garden

Walking by the community tree at Christmas in the Garden, pops of white will sprinkle throughout its bright twinkle lights and green branches. 

"I was looking at it right when we first opened, and I saw a lot of white ornaments hanging on the community tree," said Kelly Shrout, co-chair of Christmas in the Garden. "This means that a lot of people are feeling grateful as they go into the season."

The white ornaments represent gratitude, which summed up the feelings of most Longboaters as they attended the first night of Christmas in the Garden on Dec. 1 at the Longboat Island Chapel.

After being hesitant about hosting the annual holiday display, the Rev. Brock Patterson encouraged Christmas in the Garden and proposed the idea of a community tree as a symbol of unity after the damage caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. 

Residents can choose from seven different colored ornaments representing different themes and place them on the tree, as well as bring their own ornaments from home. Along with white for gratitude, people can select from gold for prayer, green for grace, blue for peace, pink for joy and silver for hope.

Similar to the community tree, the LBK Strong Tree is among one of the most popular displays in Christmas in the Garden this year.

Longboat Key influencer Shelia Loccisano, as known as "Follow Me to Longboat Key" on Instagram, used the hashtag, "LBK Strong," as she documented the town's experience through and after the hurricanes. 

Her tree displays the numerous photos she posted from the past couple of months to represent the resilience Longboaters had as they recovered from the hurricanes. 

Longboat Key businesses, nonprofits and organizations also donated trees to the garden with their own decorations. This included trees from the Paradise Center, the Lazy Lobster, Design 2000 Salon, David Gregory Salon, Longboat ACE Hardware and the Bayfront Park Pickleball Players. 

The rest of the displays were put on by the Chapel and its volunteers. Co-chair Lesley Rife said this was their hardest year to organize due to the impact the hurricanes had on the Chapel.

With fewer trees and less time than last year, the committee had to fill in gaps from where debris had fallen in the garden. Some trees had just lights on with no decorations since some businesses couldn't donate a tree this year due to the impact of the hurricanes. 

"It was a busy and difficult couple of weeks, but it truly came together perfectly," said Rife. "Thankfully, all the music performances still can come. On this first night, I just realized why I go through all the stress every year. It is breathtaking how amazing it looks."

Three local musicians kicked off the musical performances at Christmas in the Garden. Longboater Ursula Abplanalp opened by playing her Swiss Alphorn. 

The musical duo Island Breeze finished off the night by leading the crowd through a variety of holiday songs. Chapel Chef David Stone served homemade hot chocolate with marshmallows and peppermint whipped cream and cookies after the performances. 

Christmas in the Garden will be open every evening in December from 5 to 9 p.m. 

Throughout the month, there will be live musical performances from local artists, along with hot chocolate and baked goods. On New Year's Eve, the Chapel will host a special celebration with complimentary appetizers and a performance by musician John Rinell, "The Voice of Solid Gold."