On Saturday, November 29th, over 100 people from Bainbridge Township gathered at the gazebo in Heritage Park to welcome in the holiday season. This was the 6th Annual Tree Lighting and it was the best one yet!
The Kenston Treble choir sang holiday songs to get the crowd in the spirit. As you can see in the above picture is was quite dark with some lights in the gazebo and on the Bissell House. After the choir, Dr. Bates, the newly reelected Trustee, introduced the Service Department. They are the ones who have worked many hours in the cold and heavy snow over the past week to light all the trees and buildings in the park. But they didn’t get the throw the switch to turn those lights on…
From around the corner a Bainbridge firetruck rolled up with lights flashing, carrying Mr. and Mrs. Claus!
The KHS Cheerleaders cheered them up the walkway while they stopped frequently to say hi to all the kids in the assembled crowd. Once they were able to get through the crowd and to the gazebo (with the choir singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”) they were welcomed by the Trustees and the team from the Service Department. It was time for the big moment.
Mr. and Mrs. Claus in the gazebo with the choir
With Santa leading, the crowd counted down from 10 then all the lights were turned on!
Heritage Park lit up!
The park looked beautiful, the team had done a great job.
The community was then welcomed to tour the Bissell House or to go to the Fire Station for cookies, hot cocoa, and a meet and great with the Big Man.
A Quick Trip through the Bissell-Tucek House
I’ll save a more in-depth write-up for a later date. Needless to say, the Bainbridge Township Historical Society does a great job with the Bissell House. It was all decked out for Christmas and felt incredibly cozy, especially coming in from the cold and snow. There were docents in every room well prepared for the large number of visitors. I learned a ton about the local history in the 15 minutes we spent there. From the plane crash that lead to Charles Lindburg helping in the search and rescue operations, to greyhound races, to the scale model of the Henry House, to the wild pictures of the 10 people graduating classes, it was well worth the trip. I will have to stop back again to spend more time.
The fireplace all decorated for Christmas on the Bissell side of the house.
The Party at the Fire Station
The Station looked great - super clean, brightly lit, and gloriously warm! Long tables were setup where families were munching on cookies and drinking hot chocolate. It was so much fun to see the community out and interacting with each other and enjoying the festive spirit.
I have to admit though, the star of the show was the cookies. There were multiple tables full of homemade Christmas cookies of every variety you can imagine. I need to find out who did all the baking, because it must have taken an incredible amount of time.
In the other bay of the Station, Mr. and Mrs. Claus (and some reindeer!) were having meet-and-greets with the kids. Each kid walked away with a huge smile on their face and a bag full of goodies.
Looking Forward to Next Year
If you haven’t been to one of the previous Tree Lighting ceremonies here in Bainbridge, you need to plan to make it next year. It was truly a wonderful way to spend an hour welcoming in the holidays surrounded by neighbors. We hope to see you then!