Marina Christmas Tree Lighting (still working on it)

On Friday, Dec 5th, the City of Marina had our annual Tree Lighting ceremony and
it was another great success. Many worked behind the scene all day Friday
decorating the fireside room, setting up refreshments, the stage, special lighting
and coordinating the several events. It actually starts 6 months prior with a volunteer committee meeting every month, planning and coordinating.
As the event draws near, the committee meets weekly. Buying supplies, cookies,
briquette's, marsh mellows, graham crackers, lights, poinsettia's, table cloths and
all the little things.
Local stores do what they can, Subway donates sandwiches, Mountain Mikes donates
two pizzas, Round Table donates two pizzas, Starbucks discounts the coffee and
provides the containers, Coffee Mia discounted the cider, Longs discounted the
tree lights, WalMart donated candy canes, Longs discounted additional candy
canes and the Stone Soup kids made the snow flakes for the fire side room.
Hundreds of people enjoyed singing by candle light, watching the children sing and play musical instruments. Santa and Mrs Claus arrived just after the tree lights were turned on. Children of all ages surrounded The Clauses and some had their pictures taken. Coffee, cider, cookies and s'mores were served on the night with a clear sky and bright stars.
And as Santa and Mrs Claus were leaving you could hear "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night..."
Many thanks to all the volunteers such as the Recreation Department, Recreation Commission, Public Works, Police and Fire Departments, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. The civic organizations of Marina. And all the generous donations that made this event possible.