Flagler Museum hosts annual Christmas Tree Lighting Festivities

Diego Diaz Lasa, Palm Beach Daily News
Updated ·2 min read
Descendants of Henry Flagler pose for a photo after the lighting of the Grand Hall Christmas Tree at the Flagler Museum on Sunday.
Descendants of Henry Flagler pose for a photo after the lighting of the Grand Hall Christmas Tree at the Flagler Museum on Sunday.
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Young descendants of Henry Flagler light the Grand Hall Christmas Tree.
Young descendants of Henry Flagler light the Grand Hall Christmas Tree.
People pose for photos following the annual Christmas celebration at the Flagler Museum.
People pose for photos following the annual Christmas celebration at the Flagler Museum.
People receive boxes of animal crackers after attending the Flagler Museum's annual Christmas celebration.
People receive boxes of animal crackers after attending the Flagler Museum's annual Christmas celebration.
Boxes of animal crackers are ready to be handed out to guests at the Flagler Museum on Sunday.
Boxes of animal crackers are ready to be handed out to guests at the Flagler Museum on Sunday.
A sharply dressed young man takes a break from the hustle of the Flagler Museum's Christmas celebration.
A sharply dressed young man takes a break from the hustle of the Flagler Museum's Christmas celebration.
People listen as students from Bak Middle School of the Arts perform.
People listen as students from Bak Middle School of the Arts perform.
Musician Anne Akerson plays the Steinway Art Case Model B grand piano in the drawing room.
Musician Anne Akerson plays the Steinway Art Case Model B grand piano in the drawing room.
Musician Jan Fulford plays the J. H. & C. S. Odell & Co. (Opus 381, 1901) organ.
Musician Jan Fulford plays the J. H. & C. S. Odell & Co. (Opus 381, 1901) organ.
Students from Bak Middle School of the Arts perform during the annual Christmas celebration at the Flagler Museum on Sunday.
Students from Bak Middle School of the Arts perform during the annual Christmas celebration at the Flagler Museum on Sunday.

With festive tunes echoing the halls, the Flagler Museum — aka Whitehall, Henry Flagler's Gilded Age estate in Palm Beach — marked the holiday season’s beginning with the annual Christmas tree lighting festivities.

During the event, which ran from noon to 5 p.m., the over 650 attendees were offered holiday drinks, including the ever-favorite eggnog, as they experienced a selection of musical performances throughout the museum’s property.

Flagler Museum Public Affairs Director David Carson said the turnout was "historic."

"I believe it was the busiest Christmas Tree Lighting Festivities event we have ever hosted in the Flagler Museum," Carson said.

In the Music Room, attendees were treated to the tones of the late oil tycoon’s 1901 J. H & C. S. Odell & Co. Organ played by musician Jan Fulford. In the Drawing Room, musician Anne Akerson played holiday classics on the museum’s white grand piano.

Students from Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach performed Christmas carols for guests, first in the courtyard, before moving to the Grand Hall for their second performance.

Santa Claus also made an appearance and kids excitedly lined up to snap a photo with the jolly figure.

Also featured for those who bought a ticket in advance was a guest lecture from author Les Standiford about his book "The Man Who Invented Christmas," a nonfiction work tracing the impact of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" on modern Christmas traditions.

The event culminated with the lighting of the holiday tree in the Grand Hall of the late oil tycoon's home. Lighting the tree were five of Flagler's youngest descendants, each standing in front of a different colored lightbulb. With the flip of a switch, each of the children's lights turned on the matching-colored bulbs on the massive 16-foot tree, to the delight of the audience which erupted in applause.

In the Christmas tradition of gift giving, and to the delight of kids, Flagler Museum gave out animal crackers to guests as they left the festivities.

Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Flagler Museum hosts annual Christmas Tree Lighting Festivities