I followed the noise through the red, white and green jumble of Santa-hatted people and Christmas trees to a toddler perched on the edge of the petting zoo at Winter Wonderland. He was having a one-sided conversation with a duck, who seemed to be listening intently.
Here, just one step removed from the eternal summer of the beach, one passes through a portal into a land of wintry delights.
Here at this annual Christmas village in Clearwater, Florida, all dialogue is encouraged—be it between humans, animals or storybook creatures. Here, just one step removed from the eternal summer of the beach, one passes through a portal into a land of wintry delights. Here, the holiday season becomes a multisensory experience—the scent of Christmas cookies blending with the touch of snow tickling your face, the sounds of music (choral, carol, jive, hip-hop) wafting from the decorated stage, the taste of hot chocolate and the sight of lights, lights, lights, zillions of them, draping the trees, practically paving the pathways and lighting the faces of spellbound visitors.
An annual holiday fun-fest with rides, entertainers, bouncy house, electric train, snow and more, Winter Wonderland’s real superpower is as a charity project to collect food and toys for children and families in need—one of several such initiatives sponsored throughout the year by the Clearwater Community Volunteers (CCV), Scientologists inspired by their Church to give back to the community.
“Scientology helps people to help one another,” Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote. “This is the message of all prophets in all ages: Help one another. It is a formula for life that cannot fail. It is the message of Scientology.”
That formula was picked up by the CCV in 1993 and brought to life through Winter Wonderland. In its three-decade existence, the charity drive has helped young and old, serving thousands of children and families.
In the months beyond December, the CCV sponsors the Ginormous Easter Egg Hunt, and a massive fashion show and silent auction—but Winter Wonderland is the star atop the tree.
To get 100 volunteers to toss out their daily schedules—work, cooking, cleaning, carpooling, binge-watching whatever is streaming right now—to spend days putting together wreaths, stringing thousands of lights on some 100 trees, running eight miles of underground electrical cords, and otherwise designing, building, painting, sewing, supplying, lugging, fixing whatever is needed and getting it all done as a coordinated team—all to assemble a magical village within four weeks that is the stuff of dreams—requires more than simply a lot of dedicated people willing to strain and sweat to pull it off.
It takes a miracle.
And yet, somehow, that’s what CCV Executive Director Pam Ryan-Anderson and her team pull off year after year.
“That is the purpose of Clearwater Community Volunteers,” she says, “to just make kids happy—kids of all ages.”
And they deliver on that promise every season. To my right, the Sugar Plum Fairy (the actual Sugar Plum Fairy) reads a story to kids, eyes and mouths open wide with wonder. To my left, another group of kids, also open-mouthed, gawk at a 10-foot-tall toy soldier who walks and talks. Behind me, the open mouths are put to a more practical use: devouring Christmas cookies that these same children have helped decorate and ice with Mrs. Claus herself.
Mr. Claus, of course, is doing his thing next door as child after child awaits their turn. In the past, Santa has made his first appearance in a variety of ways—riding in on a Harley, rappelling down a wall, galloping in on a white horse, or hitching on the back of a fire truck. This year, he arrived borne aloft by 20 dancing elves, much to the delight—and the aforementioned unfurled jaws—of the youngest of us.
But then there are hundreds of other children who won’t experience a real Christmas this year—who would go without presents and, more importantly, without food—if not for the CCV. Thus, each visitor to Winter Wonderland is asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy or a nonperishable food item.
“It’s a major community tradition,” Pam tells Freedom, describing the enduring spell cast by Winter Wonderland. “I was just getting my car repaired and the young man helping me said, ‘I love Winter Wonderland! My mother took me there when I was a kid!’
“It’s something they can count on and look forward to every year, and it’s magical.”
In full swing through December 23 (after all, Santa and Mrs. Claus have to head back to the North Pole in time for their big workday), Winter Wonderland is a must if you’re anywhere within oh, let’s say, 100 miles of Clearwater as the reindeer flies.
It’s most likely the closest you’ll ever get to the North Pole.
Happy holidays.
