Fletcher Tree Lighting Ceremony

We live in a fairly small town that is between Hendersonville and Asheville called Fletcher. Not much is here but we do have a park that’s about five minutes from our house. The Fletcher Parks and Rec department does several activities throughout the year, like the Halloween Carnival we went to in October. I got an email a few days ago about a tree lighting they were having and decided to take Emily to it.

The event started at 6 pm so it was already dark out. Earlier that day I had gotten Emily some glow sticks and she had fun waving them around as we walked to the ceremony site. She told me on the way that she wanted to help light the tree and I told her that probably wouldn’t happen.

We had brought some can goods for the drive they were having so we dropped those off first. Then we got some hot cocoa and cookies to munch on while we listened to some kids singing. Once the singing was done, the mayor came up and said a few words.

Then it was time for the tree lighting and they asked for a child to help the mayor light the tree. I told Emily to raise her hand if she wanted to do it. She raised her hand and waved and she got picked! She was brought up on stage and asked her name, and then she helped the mayor turn the tree on.

I was a bit bummed because my flash wasn’t working great on my phone so I didn’t get a picture or video of it. And she was blocked by a pole when she was actually turning the tree on. We did get approached by a reporter asking Emily’s name and age. The only news article I’ve found this morning online doesn’t mention her though.

After the tree was lit, all the kids were invited on stage to hear Twas The Night Before Christmas. The kids were pretty good until they saw Santa arrive behind the stage near the end of the story. Emily got off the stage once the story was done and I got a quick picture of her by the tree she had lit. Then we got in line for Santa.

Emily waited very patiently for Santa, running around a bit but staying close to me. It took a while but finally it was her turn to meet Santa Claus. She went right up to him, sat on his lap and told him that she wanted a My Little Pony toy. She got her candy cane and we head off since the event was winding down.

We both had a good time. Luckily, the rain had held off until later that evening and it was pretty warm out too. Emily told me when we were on the way to the car that she told me that she was going to get to light the tree – and she had been right!