On Friday November 30th, the town of Lancaster held a tree lighting event on the town green and a visit with Santa inside Town Hall.

The Christmas Tree lighting has been going on for about 25 years, and Lancaster is one of the only towns to still do a Christmas Tree lighting.

Once the tree was lit everyone filed inside to meet Santa and bid on the trees that lined the inside of Town Hall. The trees were decorated and sponsored by local businesses, organisations, and families to help fundraise for the local 4H group’s camping trip.

Peggy Corbett, one of the leaders of 4H, said that this fundraiser, the only fundraiser the 4H group does, is “important for the 4H kids to learn community service and it’s one thing that brings out the town of Lancaster and community service.”

The planning for the event starts right after Christmas so that they can buy the trees for the next year. Then in March the work to secure permits, musicians, business sponsors, and most importantly Santa, begins.

For the rest of the year the 4H group runs food drives, plants gardens, and runs the annual egg hunt.

Scott Rossely, the music teacher at Mary Rowlandson, was one of the musicians that led everyone in Christmas carols. He also helped to bring a crowd to the event. Shanna and Isabella Paul said, “It’s our first year and we found out that the music teacher at Mary Rowlandson school [was] singing and we wanted to come sing along with him.”  

Other families came out to see Santa and others, like the Potter family, came out because “it’s really great because it’s our town.” The town tree lighting is a beautiful tradition that brings the community together and starts the holiday season in Lancaster.