STATE COLLEGE — After a countdown from the from the large crowd on Allen Street Nov. 17, 4-year-old Molly Patrick shook the magic sleigh bells to light up the large Christmas Tree and the holiday season began for State College. And although it was a week before Thanksgiving, the crowd was all geared up for the upcoming December holiday.
This is all part of the tradition that is the annual tree lighting ceremony, sponsored by the State College Downtown Improvement District. Every child under 12 who brought a donation for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots campaign or the State College Food Bank was given a chance to be the lucky tree lighter, and little Molly was the winner and she couldn’t have been more excited.
The evening was full of merriment, including Christmas carols sung by the crowd and entertainment by many local community groups.
“This is a fun tradition that has been going on for years,” said George Arnold, executive director of the Downtown Improvement District. “It is great way for the community to come together and kick off the holiday season by singing carols, drinking hot cocoa, eating cookies and they get to see our beautiful tree lit up for the first time.”
The cookies were donated by Insomnia Cookies, and cocoa was donated by Webster’s Bookstore and Cafe, along with cider provided by Irving’s. All were enjoyed aplenty by the crowd of children, parents and those who are children at heart.
A Highlight of the night was local radio personality Jeff Brown reading “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”
The Dan and Galla music show lead the crowd in singing traditional Christmas carols throughout the night, and Galla got the crowd excited with her magic Santa tracker globe, that grew brighter and brighter as Santa’s arrival grew near. Santa eventually arrived on an Alpha firetruck with the lights blazing and all, and the crowd cheered loudly.
Santa stuck around to meet with all the children who waited in line to make sure that their holiday wishes were heard.
“This is so much fun, we love to bring our kids every year,” said Kathy Laskowski from State College. “The kids think it is great, they love waiting for Santa, they love singing and getting ready for Christmas.”
