Fort Myers Beach continues tradition of poinsettia Christmas tree despite Ian

Reporter: Jolena Esperto
Published: Updated:

The community of Fort Myers Beach took on the task of building its traditional poinsettia tree and succeeded.

The mayor and the town’s public works team led the way on Thursday building the tree in Times Square.

Neighbors say the tree is a glimmer of hope in the middle of all the devastation.

People both on and off Fort Myers Beach brought over the poinsettias.

They used 365 of them to complete the tree.

The poinsettia tree has made an appearance since the town’s founding in 1995.

After Ian, it’s existence was up in the air.

But thanks to the resilient people of the beach, even a hurricane that wiped out the Island couldn’t take the tree away.

“I thought it would be appropriate to have the tree come back as the rebirth of Fort Myers Beach and to provide the hope that we are going to be back, we will be stronger,” Allers said. “Just love to provide some hope.”

Mary Juve has lived on Fort Myers Beach since 2000. She has countless memories of her kids getting pictures in front of it for Christmas cards.

“I got goosebumps,” Juve said. “It just means something for the heart and that, you know, we’ll survive it.

“It’s a loss but we’ll survive and we’re strong.”

And the tree matters to more than just the people of Fort Myers Beach.

Michelle Allers visits family on the beach for Christmas every year. She is a relative of Mayor Allers.

“One simple brick or one flower,” she said. “It’ll rebuild this whole island. And with the help of everybody that just stood here – that’s love.”

She helped set up the tree because it’s like a second home for her.

Mayor Allers said he had no idea how important the tree was to others.

“What started out as, as an idea turned into what we saw today. And I think you can tell from the crowd and the amount of people that have been supportive of it that it meant a lot to a lot of people,” he said.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.