Mayor’s Christmas Tree

I’m really sorry if you couldn’t make it to this evening’s ceremonial lighting of the mayor’s Christmas tree, on the north end of Bolivar Street, because it was a really charming scene.

And cold. Very cold. This is by far the coldest it’s been this season.

But in the best tradition of Christmas festivities, there was sweetness and cheer to warm the spirit, even if feet, hands, and face were getting kind of nipped.




It was pretty. The trees along the street are strung with cool blue lights, and the bushes with multicolored ones. The streetlamps at Rotary Park had green and red bulbs in them; ever since I was a little girl, that glowy effect has made me think of gumdrops. Happy thoughts . . .

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department was in charge of the shindig, and they did a fine job, providing propane patio heaters, a good sound system, risers for the choir, and—hooray!—yummy snacks: Cookies, freshly popped warm popcorn, hot chocolate, and hot cider. The cookies were from Schnucks (I like Schnucks—but you knew that already).




There were little goodie bags for the kids.

And Santa and the missus were there, too. The kids naturally were awestruck to have such a huge celebrity in their midst.




From six to about six-thirty, the Helias High School choir sang seasonal numbers for us (they’re really good), while trains occasionally rumbled and clanged below, between us and the river.

. . . Really, when you stop to think about it—you know this is a genuine, serious Christmas tree, because it has an awesome choo-choo train set at its base. Incredibly realistic! The mayor should be proud!

After the choir finished, Mayor Landwehr made a few brief remarks—mainly thanking all the folks and organizations who had come together to make this party happen, and reminding people to offer donations for those less fortunate—and introduced a leader from the Rotary Club, which was the major contributor in creating the “pocket park” where the tree is located, here where the old Missouri River Bridge used to be.

And then, finally, the grand throwing of the switch. Ta-dahhh!

Multicolored lights—sparkle-sparkle, very happy.




. . . One of the things I try to focus on in my blog is the “genuine,” the true, the purely good things, whether sophisticated or not. And this small community activity was one of them. I wish you were here; you’d have loved it, too.