Church of Scientology Transforms Former Checkers Lot Into Beautiful Park for Magical Winter Wonderland in Downtown Clearwater

CLEARWATER, Fla., Dec. 02, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Friday, December 4^th, Clearwater’s Winter Wonderland, sponsored by the Church of Scientology and Clearwater Community Volunteers (CCV), lights up the downtown at the beautiful, new Osceola Park, corner of Ft. Harrison Avenue and Drew Street, once an abandoned eyesore. For the past 23 years, Winter Wonderland has served over 100,000 families of Tampa Bay and beyond with its charmingly decorated Santa’s village transformed into a child’s magical playground of Holiday fun.  On the 4^th of December at 6:00 pm, City officials will join Santa and the Clearwater Community Volunteers to plug in the lights of Winter Wonderland.

Winter Wonderland will be open to all from the 4th of December to Sunday, December 20^th, 6 – 9 pm except on Mondays and Tuesdays. Children decorate cookies with Mrs. Claus, visit with Santa, pet baby animals, ride ponies and the Winter Wonderland train, slide down the 20-foot slide, jump in the bouncy house and spin on the human gyroscope all under 10,000 sparkling Holiday lights.

This year’s Winter Wonderland features a brand new stage where entertainers from all over the area provide musical entertainment, animal shows, and Christmas plays for the visiting families.

Every year, a 60-man volunteer force works for over 6,000 man-hours to raise funds, and build and run the sparkling village for Tampa Bay families.

Winter Wonderland is also a food and toy drive for children for the Nourish to Flourish program, founded by Public Defender Bob Dillinger, to help feed Pinellas County’s chronically hungry children.  The volunteers have also created special days at Winter Wonderland just for children from foster homes, the Sheriff’s Youth Ranch and other organizations which help disadvantaged youth.

Entrance to Winter Wonderland is free, but a small fee is charged for some of the activities. CCV asks that each visiting family or individual bring an unwrapped toy or canned goods for the named charities.

For more information, visit ccvfl.org.

About Clearwater Community Volunteers (CCV):

Clearwater Community Volunteers (CCV) is a non-profit, charitable organization, made up entirely of volunteers and was founded by parishioners of the Church of Scientology in Clearwater. CCV produces the huge Easter Egg Hunt in Coachman Park in Clearwater every spring, Fashions with Flair fundraiser fashion show in the summer and “Winter Wonderland” – an annual holiday charity drive in downtown Clearwater. CCV gets their inspiration from the quote by L Ron Hubbard, "Love and Help Children."  CCV has raised over $315,000 over the past 23 years for charities such as Nourish to Flourish, Shriners Hospitals for Children Tampa, Boys and Girls Club of the Suncoast, Homeless Emergency Project, and The Sheriff Youth’s Ranch.

For more information:
Contact: Pat Harney
727-467-6860