30th Annual Lighting of the Encinitas Heritage Tree

Description

Encinitas Historical Society Announces
30^th ANNUAL LIGHTING OF THE ENCINITAS HERITAGE TREE
 
The Encinitas Historical Society, in yearly partnership with the City of Encinitas and support from the Encinitas Rotary Club, proudly present the 30^th Annual Lighting of the Encinitas Heritage Tree!  The celebration will be held at the Moonlight Beach upper parking lot on Friday, December 6 from 4-6 PM.  Attendance and parking are free!
 
Special Guest Performance by Legendary Songwriter Jack Tempchin!
 
This year’s ‘three-decades’ ceremony will be specially marked with an appearance by Encinitas’ very own 2019 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Jack Tempchin!  Jack’s long list of popular compositions include the Eagle’s hits "Peaceful Easy Feeling” (1972) and “Already Gone” (co-written with Glenn Frey in1974), and Johnny River’s hit "Swayin’ to the Music (Slow Dancing)” (1977).  A long-time Encinitas resident, Jack is regularly seen playing guitar and crafting songs at Swamis.
 
The program will feature carols by the San Diego North Coast Singers children’s choir and three “EnSINGnitas” school choirs: The El Camino Creek Elementary School Choir, The Flora Vista Elementary School Choir, and combined Paul Ecke Elementary School and Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary School choirs.
 
The EnSINGnitas program is sponsored by the Encinitas Educational Foundation, a 501.c.3 nonprofit organization dedicated to making music education, performance, and enjoyment in all its forms a cultural staple in the Encinitas school program.
 
For the fourth consecutive year, the local favorite band Free Verse will start the celebration with a medley of holiday classics and join the choirs for the grand finale!
 
Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus will make their yearly trek from the North Pole, riding in on an Encinitas fire engine with horns and lights blazing, the highlight for the tots!
 
Event T-shirts featuring the Heritage Tree will be available for $20, to benefit the Encinitas Historical Society.
 
See you at this extra-special 30^th year event!  Alert family and friends!  Mark your calendars!  Heritage Tree Lighting, December 6, 4-6 PM, Moonlight Beach!
 
About the Encinitas Heritage Tree
 
Encinitas’ famed Heritage Tree was a 3-foot Norfolk Pine sapling when two brothers, Peter and John Danforth, planted it in 1952. The tree now soars 90-feet above the corner of 4th Street and C Street, looking majestically down on Moonlight Beach.  The City of Encinitas gave the tree its protected Heritage designation in 2011, one of only two trees so protected.  Since 1994, long time Encinitas resident Luis Ortiz has led community volunteers in maintaining and lighting the tree.  Each year the tree is adorned with LED lights and lit on the Friday preceding the Encinitas Holiday Parade, which is held on the first Saturday in December to officially start the City’s holiday season.  The Encinitas Historical Society proudly serves as the Heritage Tree event’s official organizer and host.
 
About the Encinitas Historical Society
The Encinitas Historical Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and offering public access to the City’s rich past through its research, library programs, exhibits, publications, and digital resources.  The Society is located at Encinitas’ most famous and oldest structure, the Old Schoolhouse built in 1883.  

Founded in the early 1980’s, the Society’s initial focus was on preventing the Old Schoolhouse from going the way of so many other historic buildings, victim to some developer’s wrecking ball.  Fortunately, they succeeded!  Through its long history, the building had been relocated twice.  After a sustained and passionate effort, the Society had the building moved back to very near its original site, where it now stands at 390 W F Street.  The Society keeps its extensive collection and the building maintained, clean, and publicly accessible, and we are in the midst of a two-year project installing a state-of-the-art, digital archiving system.
Today the Society is overseen by a dedicated Board and staff of volunteers, amongst them, the great granddaughter of the Old Schoolhouse’s original builder, ex-Schoolhouse students, and a descendant of the Danforth brothers who planted the Heritage Tree.  Our aim is to serve the community in honoring and preserving the Encinitas heritage.

For more information, please contact Encinitas Historical Society President Carolyn Cope at (760) 942-9066, or event organizer, Jim Filanc at (951) 966-3150.