Winter Garden Heritage Foundation is throwing open the doors of Heller Hall on Saturday, Nov. 21, for its first-ever Brunch Among the Trees: An Oranges & Ornaments Culinary Experience, running from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with gourmet bites, seasonal cocktails, live music, and racks of decorated holiday trees and wreaths available for purchase. Tickets run $65 per person before tax and include full access to the brunch spread along with complimentary mimosas and Bloody Marys.
The new brunch, reported by West Orange Times & Observer, takes place inside Heller Hall, the historic event and open-house venue tucked within the Healthy West Orange Heritage and Cultural Center at 21 E. Plant St. The hall regularly hosts community gatherings and speaker series throughout the year, making it a familiar backdrop for the foundation's expanding holiday calendar.
Part of a Bigger Holiday Push
The brunch is one piece of a larger seasonal lineup called Hometown Holidays: A Celebration of Peace and Joy, presented by AdventHealth as the foundation's sponsor for its 2026 programming. The festival kicks off the night before, on Friday, Nov. 20, with the Oranges & Ornaments: A Festival of Trees & Wreaths evening reception, an event that sold out during its inaugural run and features food tastings, signature beverages, and early access to purchase decorated trees.
Later in the season, the foundation's Hometown Holidays schedule continues with A Holiday Spectacular on Nov. 28 at the Garden Theatre on Plant Street, featuring performances from Opera Orlando and the Orlando Choral Society. The Garden Theatre itself was originally restored by the foundation back in 2008, underscoring how many of downtown Winter Garden's cultural venues trace back to the nonprofit's preservation work.
Funding Archives Through Food and Festivity
Ticket sales and tree purchases from the brunch and the broader festival directly fund the foundation's educational programs and its preservation of historical archives for West Orange County, according to Visit Orlando. The foundation maintains extensive historical photo and document archives that depend on that ongoing fundraising to stay accessible to the public.
The citrus-and-ornament branding is no accident. Winter Garden's downtown once sat at the heart of Central Florida's citrus shipping industry, with two major rail lines crossing Plant Street during the 20th century, per the West Orange Times & Observer. At its peak, the town shipped more citrus fruit than nearly any other hub in the state, a legacy the foundation leans on when naming its holiday events.
A Nonprofit Built to Save a Hotel, Now Running Three Sites
The Winter Garden Heritage Foundation traces its roots to October 1994, when community members organized to save the historic downtown Edgewater Hotel from demolition. The same era reshaped the surrounding Plant Street corridor, as the West Orange Trail took the place of railroad tracks removed in 1999 and brought hundreds of thousands of runners and cyclists to the area.
Today, the foundation's downtown venues include the Heritage Museum at 1 N. Main St. and the Central Florida Railroad Museum.
