Written by 
Susie and Cathy
Some highlights were train rides, reindeer, treats (including cookies offered by “Creative Mom Toys” which is days away from opening), and finally the countdown for the big event. A loud cheer broke out when the lights went on.
I had most of my family with me, and enjoyed running into friends and colleagues. Here are a few photos.
Crowds cheer seconds after the tree is lit
Some of my family
Council-member Marcie Palmer poses with me a few minutes before the tree lighting
The owner and staff of the soon-to-open “Creative Mom Toys” handed out treats
Christmas Tree
It is not a Holiday tree, it is a Christmas tree! Lets keep Christ in Christmas! Matthew 1:21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Re: Christmas Tree
Actually, the practice of bringing evergreens into the home during winter predates Judaism (and therefore Christianity) by a few thousand years. Same with most other winter festive traditions–lights, gifts, music, etc. It’s a very cross-cultural thing, found all over the world in places that have a lot of darkness/cold at that time of year. Evergreens symbolize life in a time when other plants have shed their leaves and gone dormant, and lights/other festivities are a reaction to the end of the yearly solar cycle (solstice) and the return of longer days.
Celebrating the birth of your religion’s messiah is all well and good, and I hope you enjoy it, but most of the other trappings of the season have little to nothing to do with that particular day. Also, it may interest you to know that Jesus was actually born in summer. The ancient church moved the date to December to help blend it in with existing Yule celebrations. Some Christians actually eschew the secular/pagan aspects of the season because of that.
Re: Christmas Tree
If Martin Luther could selfishly appropriate the fir tree as an inaccurate Christian symbol, people are perfectly in the right to take it back. It might even be said that it’s helping to keep Christianity pure as was intended and free of pagan symbolism.
Bah humbug! That $#%@ train [of death] almost ran me over. And the 3 hours spent at Vino had nothing at all to do with the situation.