The town of Silver Spring, MD has taken the spirit of the season to a whole new level and it involves the town’s Christmas tree display in a way that helps those in need.

This is the second consecutive year that the Downtown Silver Spring, a local group of shopping merchants and The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County have pulled together to create a work of art and of heart in the city’s center. Laurie Yankowski, the Regional Marketing Director for Downtown Silver Spring, called the construction funky and diverse. She also said it was the ideal backdrop for art installation.

This year’s effort arrives in the form of an enormous Christmas tree constructed completely out of toys and “found objects.” In January when the installation is taken apart, all the components will be delivered to A Wider Circle, a nonprofit organization in the community that focuses on helping needy families.
S
ome of the items used in the construction were donated by Strosniders Hardware store and the artist. Included are 58 disk sleds, 19 chairs and stools, 89 tub sleds, 18 rackets, 12 helmets, four play tables, five xylophones, three sit’n spins, seven Wiffle ball bats, 2 crayon coin banks some brooms and some Frisbees. It took the artist one week to assemble everything into the 35 foot tall tree that it became.

Karl Unnasch, the artist, named his creation “Playtime Jubilee.” He was very pleased with how it turned out and more than a little surprised that it actually looked the way he envisioned it when he was done. He’s also enjoyed the positive response his work has garnered.

Yankowski says the community loves it and that people are coming from all over to see it. She couldn’t be more pleased, too.