It’s not often you can evaluate an endeavor and claim that is an overall win win win win win win situation, but in the case of the Jacksonville Beach Deck The Chairs, founder Kurtis Loftus has the right to claim exactly that. The emergence of the Deck The Chairs thirteen years ago has given event organizers, community leaders, local businesses, non-profits, local residents, educators, along with their students across the First Coast, an event that not only showcases the community spirit that is abundant in North Florida, but gives everyone involved the right to feel proud to be involved in something so special.
For many years the highlight of the Christmas season in Jacksonville was the massive neighborhood lighting effort down Girvin Road, and for viewers of the light show it was an awesome event, but for residents it was four weeks of extreme frustration! St. Augustine had Light The Nights and in downtown Jacksonville they have an annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony, but Jacksonville Beach was sorely lacking in a festive holiday tradition. Until Deck The Chairs anyway.
Running from Thanksgiving until January 1 at Latham Plaza in Jacksonville Beach, Deck The Chairs has evolved over its thirteen run as a truly unique holiday social experience that allows businesses, organizations of all types, and students of the arts to showcase their products and services, commitment to the community and artistic talent to a mostly local audience, although DTC does bring visitors from all over the world, albeit on a smaller scale.
Founder Kurtis Loftus is no stranger to community involvement, civic leadership and family-oriented goals. Loftus founded Deck The Chairs with the mission of promoting children’s arts and arts education. Deck The Chairs works year-round with schools, business and art programs to promote the unique aspects of the DTC design/build creative process. Several months of planning and hundreds of volunteers work to successfully present 6 weeks of JBDTC Event Programming showcasing children’s art, dance, and music performances.
When asked how the student arts focus was going, Loftus said, “More than nine hundred kids benefited from twenty different middle and high schools with $50,000.00 invested in the effort. It just doesn’t get much better than that.” In addition to that Deck The Chairs also produced approximately forty stage productions during the event that benefited more than two thousand local students.
Overall, Deck The Chairs has given the youth of the First Coast something to be extremely proud of. In that respect the mission of Jacksonville Beach Deck The Chairs has been uniquely successful in building a solid reputation in involving children in something they will remember for the rest of their lives. But it doesn’t stop there. Civic leaders, businesses, service organizations, students and teachers as well as the general public can boast that the community they live in has a unique sense of holiday spirit not found anywhere else in the world, and with that being the case it is truly a win win win for everyone.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Mike is a native First Coaster and was a leading figure in surfing and skateboarding for most of his life. After promoting music for many years on the local music scene, Mike now brings a unique perspective to FirstCoast.Life as a contributing writer.
