On Saturday December 14th, 2019 at 6pm the Town of Shenandoah held its annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at Big Gem Park. It was a very large crowd that showed up for this year’s ceremony. Mayor Clinton Lucas Jr. told the story of how the Christmas Tree became a tradition in our homes. Afterwards he went over and lite up the lights on the Christmas tree. The Shenandoah Elementary School Chorus attended the ceremony and sang several Christmas Carols. The chorus timed their performance just right so that by the time Santa arrived via fire truck, they were singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town! Thanks so much to Ms. Deamond from PCHS and Ms. Wiley from PCMS for their assistance this evening!
While waiting for Santa Claus to arrive, the children roasted marshmallows over a small bonfire that was attended by members of the Lion’s Club.
Members from the Shenandoah Indians Baseball club were on hand serving hot chocolate and cookies were provided by members of Christ and Fields United Methodist Church.
All the children were very excited when Santa arrived! Santa was escorted to the park via fire truck, driven by volunteers from Shenandoah’s Volunteer Fire Department. This year’s ceremony took place under the picnic shelter on the lower level of the park. The pavilion and rear parking lot was well lit as members of Shenandoah Public Works Department manned the portable generators & light trailers. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the children waited in line to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas and then had their pictures taken with him. The Shenandoah Beautification Committee and town employees did an exceptional job as always in decorating the park with Christmas lights and decorations.
