Week 9: Mayor’s Tree Lighting
For the last several years, I have had “Mayor’s Tree Lighting” on my schedule of things to do for Christmas. Every year we have a conflict, decide it’s too cold, or forget. This year we had just gotten back from our trip and Jeff was off again to Salt Lake City to learn about a new program for Iowa’s prison system. I had missed the boys a lot while we were gone, so when “Mayor’s Tree Lighting” popped up on my calendar, I decided this was the year we would go. I was sad Jeff would have to miss it, but was looking forward to spending some time with the boys. It was so much more than I expected it to be. Santa and Mrs. Claus were on site. There was face painting and characters. Our favorite coffee shop was giving out free hot chocolate. A local band played Christmas songs. We ran into so many friends and found out later we missed seeing even more. Despite a couple of meltdowns from the boys (mentioned in an earlier post) it was an idyllic evening. When Santa, Mrs. Claus and the Mayor counted down the tree being lit, it was like a scene from a movie. There were fireworks and cheers. It was the perfect way to kick-off the holidays and remind us we live in the biggest small town and it’s adorable.
