A young visitor meets with Santa Claus at the lighting of the Brandon Christmas tree. The annual event celebrated this year its 25th anniversary at the Center Place Fine Arts & Civic Association, which shares space in the Sandy Rodriguez Center with the Brandon Regional Library, 619 Vonderburg Drive. The Dec. 3, 2008 event drew hundreds of attendees in a standing- room only-packed meeting room. Entertainment, in order of appearance (which is how the photos appear in this gallery, starting with Photo No. 17, with behind- the-scenes photos of the groups in later gallery pages) was provided by: the Brandon Academy Colorguard, Kim Hall's School of Dance, the Brandon [Academy] Spotlights, Tampa Bay Family Theatre, Music Showcase, Burns Middle School Chamber Orchestra, One Voice Youth Choir, and the Bloomingdale High School Ambassadors show choir. The event was hosted by Center Place and the Community Roundtable, formerly known as the Presidents' Roundtable and the Roundtable Charities of Greater Brandon, Inc. The Community Roundtable is open to representatives from area nonprofit and charitable organizations. The group annually runs the Brandon Fourth of July Parade, the charity race for Honorary Mayor of Brandon and the Public Affairs Dinner, among other activities. Santa Claus, who bears a strong resemblance to Vince Ferraro, has attended the Center Place tree lighting for many, many years. Also in attendance this year was Brandon Honorary Mayor Tammy Holmberg, whose restaurant, the Chick-fil-A in Lake Brandon Village, provided the refreshment. Steve Saunders gave the blessing and Darci D'Onofrio, Center Place executive director, served as emcee. Susan Saunders, president of the Center Place Board of Directors, welcomed the guests to the event.

A young visitor meets with Santa Claus at the lighting of the Brandon Christmas tree. The annual event celebrated this year its 25th anniversary at the Center Place Fine Arts & Civic Association, which shares space in the Sandy Rodriguez Center with the Brandon Regional Library, 619 Vonderburg Drive. The Dec. 3, 2008 event drew hundreds of attendees in a standing- room only-packed meeting room. Entertainment, in order of appearance (which is how the photos appear in this gallery, starting with Photo No. 17, with behind- the-scenes photos of the groups in later gallery pages) was provided by: the Brandon Academy Colorguard, Kim Hall's School of Dance, the Brandon [Academy] Spotlights, Tampa Bay Family Theatre, Music Showcase, Burns Middle School Chamber Orchestra, One Voice Youth Choir, and the Bloomingdale High School Ambassadors show choir. The event was hosted by Center Place and the Community Roundtable, formerly known as the Presidents' Roundtable and the Roundtable Charities of Greater Brandon, Inc. The Community Roundtable is open to representatives from area nonprofit and charitable organizations. The group annually runs the Brandon Fourth of July Parade, the charity race for Honorary Mayor of Brandon and the Public Affairs Dinner, among other activities. Santa Claus, who bears a strong resemblance to Vince Ferraro, has attended the Center Place tree lighting for many, many years. Also in attendance this year was Brandon Honorary Mayor Tammy Holmberg, whose restaurant, the Chick-fil-A in Lake Brandon Village, provided the refreshment. Steve Saunders gave the blessing and Darci D'Onofrio, Center Place executive director, served as emcee. Susan Saunders, president of the Center Place Board of Directors, welcomed the guests to the event.