After going virtual last year, the St. Clements Tree of Light event will be held in-person on Saturday.
That means Santa will be there to greet those who show up at 5:30 p.m. outside the St. Clements library. At 5:45, he’ll be joined by entertainer Erick Traplin. The lighting ceremony gets underway at 6 p.m.
There’ll also be Christmas cookies to go along with coffee, hot chocolate and hot cider.
As usual, the Paradise and District Lions Club is selling bulbs on the tree. It’s $5 to dedicate one light bulb on the tree, either in memory of someone passed away or in honour of an individual. For $50, donors could light a string of bulbs on the tree, while above $50 would let people light a bulb on the star.
As with past events, the dedications will be read aloud as part of the ceremony, said club member Janet Pfaffinger, who chairs the Tree of Light committee.
Bulbs should be purchased by noon tomorrow (Friday), though the club will still be accepting donations. Funds raised this year will support Lions community causes, including Meals on Wheels, Community Care Concepts and local hospitals and hospices.
Pfaffinger said she’s happy to see the event return to an in-person format. Though held outdoors, there will be pandemic precautions, and attendees are encouraged to wear masks.
“We really wanted to have Santa there for the kids, for instance. I don’t think they’ll be able to sit on his lap and that sort of thing, but he will be presenting a message and he will be mingling in the crowd,” she explained.
The main event will be the lighting of the tree that follows the name-dedication ceremony.
“It’s not a real tree anymore because we found we were damaging the real tree by the strings of lights. So we decided to go with more of a steel structure – it’s 40 feet tall and it’s got 3,850 lights on it.”
For more information or to purchase bulbs, Pfaffinger can be contacted by email at jennypfaffinger@golden.net. Donations can also be made through the club by e-transfer: treasurer@paradiselions.ca, use password Lions. In person, bulbs and mint smoothies can be purchased at the CIBC branch in St. Clements. Other locations include Creative Hair Works, Exotic Wings and Pet Things, inSeason Home + Garden, Kate’s Hair Den and Styles By Lori.
