Ten trees at Johnson Center highlight local talent of children, arts supporters

For those who want a joyful but quiet time away from the rush to Christmas, the Johnson Center for the Arts offers a Christmas Tree Extravaganza.

The art center has 10 Christmas trees all beautifully and originally decorated for the holiday season by students from the city and county schools, organizations and the Extravaganza’s local sponsors, KW Plastics, Horn Beverage and Troy Junior Women’s League.

The Johnson Center will be open from 10 until 5 p.m. today and from 10 until 3 p.m. on Saturday and Christmas Eve for the enjoyment of the community.

“Each summer at the Troy-Pike Cultural Arts Center’s teacher’s workshop, we invite the teachers to have their classes decorate trees for the Extravaganza and then we always have other teachers who volunteer their classes,” said Wiley White, Center development coordinator. “The decorations are novel in that they are made by students and many of them are made from recycled items. The trees are a lot of fun.”

The classes at Goshen Elementary School pooled their talents to create a Recycle, Reused, Rejoice tree for the holidays. Pike Liberal Arts School also chose recycled items for their Christmas tree.

White said the students flatted and painted soft drink cans to make interesting ornaments and cut and sprayed plastic bottles to look like flowers.

“Students in the second grades at Troy Elementary School colored and cut out angels for their Angel tree,” she said.

The third grade students at Pike County Elementary School decorated the Santa and Friends Christmas tree while third-graders at Banks Primary School decorated the a tree the Olde Time Christmas way.

The fifth graders at Troy Elementary School chose a Toyland Christmas theme for their tree and Charles Henderson High School decorated the 20-foot Love and Art Christmas tree.

The Troy University Alumni tree recognizes the contributions of the university to the community year round and the Chrismon Tree, which is decorated with Christian symbols, highlights the real reason for the season.

“We invite those who have not visited the Christmas Tree Extravaganza to take a few minutes before Christmas and visit the Johnson Center and we welcome those who have been back again,” White said.

The Johnson Center has less than a dozen of the Center’s 2012 Christmas ornaments still available for sale.

“The ornaments were individually created by noted blown glass artist Cal Breed of North Alabama,” White said. “These ornaments make wonderful Christmas gifts.”