CHRISTMAS IN FONTANA. Creative and unique Christmas decorations made from dried woods, twigs, and other raw materials for sale at the lobby of Fontana Hot Springs Park. (CDC-CD Photo)
CLARK FREEPORT— Fontana Hot Spring Leisure Parks, a locator inside this Freeport, is selling handcrafted Christmas decorations made out of raw and indigenous materials to help those affected by COVID-19.
According to Fontana Marketing Communications Specialist Jasria Magbanti, the proceeds will be contributed to Clark Development Corporation’s (CDC) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects.
Meanwhile, Magbanti shared the story of what inspired the workers in making the said decorations.
“The story behind those Christmas decors is that it is part of the CSR of our company so we have decided to make a difference in our society today especially during the pandemic,” she said.
She also mentioned the importance of teamwork and dedication to turn their vision into reality.
“It’s very important that you have a good working relationship with your employees so we conceptualized the design three months before. We also had a coordination meeting with the staff to check their schedules and availability,” she added.
This isn’t the first time for Fontana’s Art Department since they have already been making Christmas decors since last year.
Fontana Art Manager Reginald Dy explained how the workers utilized the raw materials found within Fontana’s vicinity and transformed them into fancy and unique decorations.
“For this year’s Christmas, we used the remaining raw materials that we also used from last year. This came from fallen trees that we started chopping into thin pieces then we painted the designs. Basically, it’s all materials from last year that haven’t been used,” he said.
They used dried woods as a base to make decors such as tabletops, danglers, and other hand-painted ornaments ranging from only P50 to P250 only.
Despite their limited manpower, Lead Visual Artist Dorie Valle, Graphic Artist Heartley Nacpil, and Production Assistants Charlie Pastor and Jerick Munoz continue to help in producing pieces of art daily to sell more decors before Christmas.
Aside from these, the Art Department in collaboration with Fontana Western Executive Chef and Head Pastry Chef Dan Jason Acido also came up with a Christmas village found in the lobby.
The miniature village is made out of a combination of edible ingredients and raw materials which took a month of preparation.
According to Chef Dan, most of the ingredients that were used are made from sugar and cookies. The bread houses, which each takes three hours to make, are made from cookies and royal icing.
“I also thought of doing a village since Fontana is like a village – there’s a lot of villas here. As a chef, you have to put something special for Christmas. We also make edible Gingerbread Houses for only 880 pesos,” he mentioned.
Fontana plans to launch a souvenir shop early next year which will house various kinds of souvenir items for any season, all year round.
