CHICAGO (CBS) - If you’re thinking of spending the creating your own tornado or designing a Jim Henson-inspired puppet character at the Museum of Science and Industry Tuesday, you just might run into Blackhawks center Tomas Kopecky.

Kopecky and Blackhawks mascot Tommy Hawk will be at the museum at 3 p.m. to decorate a Blackhawk tree, a dazzling Christmas tree to honor the 2010 Stanley Cup champion team.

The tree will be one of more than 50 that will grace the museum’s main level for the annual Christmas around the World exhibit, which opens Thursday, Nov. 18.

Christmas around the World at the Museum of Science and Industry (2009 File Photo; Credit: CBS))

The museum’s 45-foot grand tree will stand proudly in the main Rotunda. The other trees will all be decorated by members of the city’s ethnic communities to represent the world’s cultures.

This year’s exhibition will also feature dance and choral performances on the Holiday Stage, and intermittent showers of artificial snow.

Christmas around the World began at the MSI in 1942, just nine years after the museum first opened. Originally, it was a United Nations Day to honor the Allied forces fighting in World War II.

It has since expanded to showcase both Christmas trees and symbols of other holidays celebrating light — such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Diwali — in the Holidays of Light exhibit.

The event runs this season through Jan. 9, 2011. The museum is open every day except Christmas.