City rings in holidays with party
SUN PHOTO BY GREG MARTIN, gmartin@sun-herald.com
Residents relax to the doo-wop music of the Goldtones near a Christmas tree at the City Marketplace site during the Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree event Saturday in Punta Gorda.
SUN PHOTO BY GREG MARTIN
Longtime residents Michele and David Spencer show off a T-shirt they bought to commemorate their participation in one of Punta Gorda's 125th anniversary events Saturday.
SUN PHOTO BY GREG MARTIN
Members of the Goldtones harmonize on a '50s-era tune as part of Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, a free community concert held Saturday in Punta Gorda.
SUN PHOTO BY GREG MARTIN
Linda Baillargeon, from left, looks on as Meg Longva of North Port checks out a hand-carved item at a booth operated by Sigrid and Tom Bowen of Englewood, during the Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree event Saturday in Punta Gorda.
SUN PHOTO BY GREG MARTIN
Joy Ritzer of Port Charlotte dances to the Goldtones music Saturday. "I will never ever move out of here," she says of Punta Gorda.
By GREG MARTIN
Staff Writer
PUNTA GORDA — Residents rang in the holidays with a doo-wop group singing tunes ranging from “Teen Angel” to “La Bamba,” in what amounted to a downtown street party Saturday afternoon.
The Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree event, which was also set to feature trop-rock from Jim Morris and the Big Bamboo Band and pop rock from the BoogieMen, represented the culmination of a two-month-long series of events to celebrate Punta Gorda’s 125th anniversary.
