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The annual Christmas in the Park is currently open for its 40th year. The display features a 50-foot artificial tree with a computer-controlled, music enhanced light show that made its debut last year.
Southwest Airlines remains the title sponsor, and Excite Credit Union is in the second of its three years as the entertainment stage sponsor. But PG&E, everybody’s favorite villain these days, dialed down its sponsorship from about $20,000 to $5,000 and Lowe’s — which came on last year in the wake of Orchard Supply Hardware’s closing — has pulled out. That represents a loss of about $50,000 between those two companies alone.
“We added Google as a new sponsor… they’d previously just sponsored the Santa Run, and eBay is back after a few years away, and Amazon increased its sponsorship,” Executive Director Jason Minsky said. And, Home Depot replaced Lowe’s as a sponsor, not only providing a source for the hundreds of community trees — all real — that will fill out the park but also giving Christmas in the Park store credit for building supplies.
Reporting by Sal Pizarro.