Wiscasset tree-lighting gets Santa, snow
Students from Wiscasset’s public schools sing on the steps of First Congregational Church during the Dec. 3 tree-lighting ceremony on the Wiscasset Common. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Alana Gray, 7, of Wiscasset visits the newly lit tree. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
First Congregational Church member Sarah Whitfield wears a hat with festive, flashing lights to greet those coming inside for refreshments after the ceremony. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
First Congregational Church members Nancy and Wallace Roby help guide event-goers. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Marita Fairfield and daughter Marguerita make their way through a church hallway. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Wiscasset’s Jeff Grosser adds music to the refreshments portion of the event. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Santa Claus directs the crowd’s attention to the lawn for the tree-lighting. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Mae Benner keeps warm in gloves she made. At right is her mother Cristie Benner. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Students from Wiscasset’s public schools sing on the steps of First Congregational Church during the Dec. 3 tree-lighting ceremony on the Wiscasset Common. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Alana Gray, 7, of Wiscasset visits the newly lit tree. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
First Congregational Church member Sarah Whitfield wears a hat with festive, flashing lights to greet those coming inside for refreshments after the ceremony. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
First Congregational Church members Nancy and Wallace Roby help guide event-goers. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Marita Fairfield and daughter Marguerita make their way through a church hallway. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Wiscasset’s Jeff Grosser adds music to the refreshments portion of the event. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Santa Claus directs the crowd’s attention to the lawn for the tree-lighting. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Mae Benner keeps warm in gloves she made. At right is her mother Cristie Benner. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Cristie Benner of Wiscasset and her family come every year to the tree-lighting on the common. “We love it. It’s kind of the jumping-off point for the season,” she said with daughter, Mae, 11, at her side in fox paw-styled gloves the Wiscasset Elementary School sixth grader made herself.
“She can make anything,” her mother said. They and several other family members including Benner’s fellow Wiscasset High School graduates Erin and Jody Haggett were on the Wiscasset Common Saturday night as her niece Angelina Haggett and other Wiscasset students grades five through 12 sang to the crowd from the steps of First Congregational Church.
Among the crowd were Walpole’s Bob and Lynn Fraser, joined by their 3-year-old English lab Charlie, a certified therapy dog. The couple had attended the Wiscasset event before. “It’s very special,” Lynn Fraser said about why they wanted to be there for it.
Just as the Dec. 3 event was getting underway, a light mix of precipitation started and then turned to snow, leaving a dusting. Frosty helped make it snow, the snowman’s assistant for the evening, Wiscasset Community Center aquatics instructor Lori LaPointe, said in a joint interview before Frosty resumed mingling, posing for pictures and waving. Another of Santa’s friends, Rudolph, also joined in the festivities.
Then came Santa from the bottom of the hill, where he arrived with a Wiscasset fire truck’s siren and red lights. A child met him with a hug before he reached the crowd. At the hilltop, Santa joined longtime emcee Jeff Grosser in the countdown to the lighting of the Norway spruce. Afterward, children ran up to the tree with its multi-colored lights and some ran around it. Grosser wished everyone a good and prosperous holiday season. Then, the festivities moved inside the church, where members Nancy and Wallace Roby, stationed at a staircase, helped guide the crowd.
Inside the hall, members of the town’s beautification committee served up cocoa with optional marshmallows. A long table held plates of donut holes and cookies. Grosser sat playing the accordion.
Find more Smugmug-able photos in our gallery from the event.
Still to come this holiday season are two other Wiscasset Parks and Recreation traditions, the Teddy Bear Sleepover this Friday, Dec. 9, and Breakfast with Santa on Dec. 17. Both are at the community center. For details, call 882-8230.
Event Date
Address
United States
