Jacksonville Tree Lighting

Saturday, Cate had a choir caroling gig at the Jacksonville community center. Being a part of chamber choir has been so much fun for her, and this caroling tour will likely be one of her favorite Christmas memories I do believe. John thought it would be fun to go participate in the town tree lighting this year. Honestly, I was resistant. It was cold, big crowds can feel overwhelming, and having never been before I didn’t understand the hype, honestly. I know, I know, not my usual reaction to anything Christmas. I am so glad we went. We ran into our friends, the Rusts, and it was so much fun dancing to the music to stay warm and laugh and celebrate the start of another Christmas season together. It was extremely cold. The street around the event center was packed and everyone singing carols together was so uplifting. The leader of the singing made it so fun by having the congregation just sing “fa la la la” to “Deck the Halls” or he had all the children come to the front for “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.” My heart was filled with gratitude as we sang “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!” and “Joy to the World.” There were hundreds of us gathered together singing and rejoicing the Jesus had come. Jacksonville is a town preserved in the 1800’s and is a national historic city. Every Christmas, the theme is Victorian Christmas. The streets are lined with real Carl and white Christmas lights, wreaths on the lamp posts, and there are often Victorian era dressed Carolers walking up and down the street. The Hanley house hosts tours describing Christmas traditions at the time Jacksonville was settled with the historic home decked out in Christmas decor. There is a parade ending with a nativity by the town church and a building set aside for Father Christmas to visit with Children, Jacksonville of southern Oregon really comes together for the Holiday, while honoring our historic roots. 

Last night, it was delightful hearing the squeals of delight as Father Christmas emerged with his elves. Different city members read the symbolism of different strings of lights, many were spiritual, which I was very grateful for. For example, gold represented the gift brought to Jesus, totality since Jesus is king, but also the discovery of gold is in the very foundation of Jacksonville’s founding and we are grateful for our town that was created during the gold rush. Emma didn’t make it through the blustery night and John took her to the car right as the tree lighting commenced. John and came and picked us up when it was over and we hauled amour cold behinds to the car. John and I went and grabbed pizza while the kids hopped in the hot tub to warm up. We ate pizza with cider around the table talking about the night. Then we cozied up and watched “Home Alone 2” with peppermint ice cream. I feel so lucky we had two such fun and festive nights right in a row! I love Christmas season. I am so grateful John had the foresight to insist we attend the tree lighting ceremony. It will definitely be a tradition in the future. 

I know this is blurry, but I really wanted to remember John carrying both the younger kids on his shoulders in an effort to make Emma happy.

William and Matthew in front of the tree.  They had us do a cheer to light each color and then lastly Father Christmas had us say “light up the magic” and all the trees surrounding the Christmas tree lit up with some remaining strands on the tree itself, the joy of the crowd made me smile so big.