Troy tree lighting set for Nov. 28
<p>Santa listens intently as 6-year-old Kylie Cole whispers in his ear what she would like for Christmas. (a CD player and a CD)</p>
Troy’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting is happening this Saturday thanks to help from local volunteers and organizations.
The City of Troy, The Troy Ministerial Alliance, Misty Yeadon Webley and Josh and Tina Moore of Lincoln Theatre helped to put this year’s celebration together.
The event will begin at 4 p.m. with games for the children at the Lincoln Theatre on Kootenai Avenue. The official lighting will happen at 6 p.m. Santa and Mrs. Claus will arrive five minutes before the lighting and music will be played during the children’s visit with Santa afterwards. At 7 p.m., the Lincoln Theatre will show a screening of The Nativity.
Players have the opportunity to receive prizes at the game stations. Cookies, hot chocolate and coffee will be served outside while parents and children wait to talk to Santa. In addition, cider, popcorn, chips and hot dogs will be served at the Lincoln Theatre throughout the screening.
This year, Doreen Denning, Tammy Mossey and Larry Mossey will light the tree in honor of their mother, Toddy Mossey, who passed away in July.
All the festivities will be free to the public, but Troy City Council Treasurer Tracy Rebo says that help would be welcome in one aspect of the celebration.
Rebo says that the city needs cookies to be donated. She invites donors to drop off any cookies at Troy Area Dispatch, as City Hall will be closed Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Civic Improvement Committee and the Troy Commercial Club thought of the idea to do a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in 1931 as a way to “kick off” the Christmas Season, Rebo said. It also serves as an opportunity for the city’s children to talk to Santa Claus and tell him their wishes. The city has performed the ceremony every year since then, except for the national blackout period during World War II.
The city will light a 90-foot-tall ponderosa pine that is over 150 years old. The Troy Volunteer Committee re-stringed the tree’s lights four years ago, using $5,000 in donations. Before that, decorations for the tree were part of an on-going city maintenance program.
Rebo expects 100 to 150 people to attend the event, depending on the weather. She hopes for around 150 children to attend and have fun in the festivities.
Rebo thinks people come to the event mainly to see the tree lit, but that the event will also spread Christmas cheer throughout the community.