Seasonal Family Fun Heralds the Opening of Cars, Trees & Traditions at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Nov. 15, 2007 --

What: Cars, Trees & Traditions opening celebration

Who:

Santa and his crafting elves, a yo-yo master, a gift wrap guru and a face painting artist will launch the Museum's annual holiday exhibition

When:

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17

Where:

Walter P. Chrysler Museum, on Chrysler's Headquarters Complex in Auburn Hills (exit 78 [Chrysler Dr.] off I-75)

Details:

Admission is free for Cars, Trees & Traditions opening festivities. Along with informal tours of the exhibition, visitors can also enjoy:

              - Visiting with Santa in a vintage Dodge truck -- cameras are
                welcome
              - Creating keepsakes with Michael's, The Arts and Crafts Store
              - Discovering wrapping traditions and tips for beautiful
                packages with Lisa Gleeson of Lisa's Gift Wrappers
                (10:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.)
              - Perfecting yo-yo tricks with Zeemo, The Yo-Yo Man
                (11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.)
              - Accessorizing with airbrush face painting
              - Indulging in holiday treats
              - Shopping for 10 percent discounts, with free gift wrapping,
                in the Museum Store

The celebration also features a toy drive for Toys for Tots. Visitors are invited to arrive with new, unused, unwrapped toys to fill a 2008 Chrysler Town & Country Minivan.

Other:

The Walter P. Chrysler Museum is donning its holiday finest for Cars, Trees & Traditions, a special exhibition featuring authentically decorated vintage trees, nostalgic ads, seasonal photos of Detroit over the decades and written narrative highlighting American holiday customs, Nov. 17 - Dec. 30, 2007.

The third annual exhibition offers a look back at holiday celebrations from the early 1900s through the 1980s. The exhibit features 20 vignettes highlighting evergreen trees accurately decorated in holiday fashion, paired with Chrysler vehicles of the same eras. The graphics and images accompanying each tree, including a variety of historic holiday-season photos of Detroit from the archives of Wayne State University's Walter P. Reuther Library, illustrate styles, events and products of seasons past. The exhibition also features timelines of beloved toys and popular gifts as well as a collection of holiday greetings from the Chrysler Historical Archives.