Ornaments Sold to Pay for Seal Beach Christmas Tree

The Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce wants your help to get the city in the holiday spirit.

For the second year in a row, the chamber is selling ornaments to raise money for leasing a giant artificial Christmas pine for the city's tree-lighting ceremony at Eisenhower Park Nov. 26.

“I absolutely love Christmas,” said Laura Ellsworth, chair of the tree-lighting ceremony committee. “And this event, it’s the spirit of Christmas and it’s the spirit of community.”

Ellsworth, who owns Company Books, a business that provides tax and accounting services, said the city is covering half the cost of the tree's lease.

The chamber hopes to pay for the other half by selling large, colorful, foam-board ornaments with the words “To: Seal Beach Community; From: [the donor’s name, organization or family].”

The ornaments will hang from the boughs of a 25-foot-tall tree, which is 7 feet taller than last year's tree.

In 2010, about 1,200 people attended the tree-lighting ceremony, Ellsworth said.

The 2011 ceremony will include real snow, hot chocolate and Santa.

But if they don’t have the tree?

“It’s not really the same,” Ellsworth said. 

In 2010, the chamber sold 30 to 40 ornaments. Ellsworth hopes to double that – especially because this year's ornament prices were cut 50 percent -- to $200, $100 or $25. The deadline to donate is Nov. 15.

To order, click here for the form, fill it out and then fax it to 562-795-5637. Donors can also sign up in person at the Chamber of Commerce office at 201 8th St., Suite 120, Seal beach.

When the tree is taken down, donors can pick up their ornaments at the chamber office.

For more information, call 562-799-0179 or email info@sealbeachchamber.org