JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — The 11th annual Deck The Chairs event was full of families walking off their Thanksgiving meals Thursday night.
Thanksgiving was only the second night of it, with lots of performances and light shows to come over the next six weeks.
“Considering that I come here a lot, it’s very cool knowing there’s one out there that I got to help work on," said Mayport Middle School student RJ Adams.
RJ got to show off his artistic skills as part of the Mayport Middle School team that arranged their Deck The Chair design. He learned making a chair look just right is harder than it looks.
“As soon as we would get it in the shape we wanted, something would mess it up, but it was actually very fun," RJ told First Coast News.
Deck The Chairs organizer Kurtis Loftus says they’ve incorporated more and more school-led chairs to give students like RJ a chance to be creative.
“We’re honored to be able to help children understand what art means and how it can inspire," Loftus said.
Another added benefit of Deck The Chairs growing year after year – the impact on businesses at the beaches. Loftus says they had about 30,000 visitors when the event started in 2013. Now, that number is up to 120,000.
“We’re not serving dinner, we’re not selling alcohol," said Loftus. "So, what’s happening is, the folks are coming in, sometimes after dinner, but they’re going out to eat, they’re going to the bars.”
Loftus says some merchants have reported a 20-25 percent growth in business during the month and a half Deck The Chairs has been open for. Loftus' hope is that number will climb even higher with more new visitors like Mallory and Craig Marshal.
“We love it," said Mallory Marshal. "They’re neat."
"It’s different," added Craig Marshal. "It’s not something you would see up north.”
Some Downtown Jacksonville businesses could feel the economic benefit, too this year. This is the first year Deck The Chairs will also fill James Weldon Johnson Park in front of Jacksonville City Hall.
Those chairs will be out there starting Dec. 6.