Tree lighting welcomes holidays and honors deceased

ALBERTON – The building festivities of the holidays saw the community gather to spark the Christmas season and honor passed loved ones Friday, as the Alberton community held a Christmas tree lighting and tribute at the Alberton Community Center.

For the event, a giant evergreen tree out front of the Alberton Community Center was laced with Christmas lights. At approximately 5 p.m., the lights were turned to bathe the gathered viewers in the multi-colored glow of the holidays. According to Jaime Odell, one of the organizers of the event, the group put out surveys around the community to ask what kinds of events people would want to see. The surveys were also used to get further ideas for events from Alberton residents.

“[We were] just looking for ideas for everybody in Alberton to get together and do things,” said Odell. “Just sort of stimulate some activity around here.”

The event was put on by Promoting Excellence in Alberton-area Kids Foundation as a way to encourage the community to come together more.

When the idea of a tree lighting event came up, it sparked interest within the group. There were some concerns about the short notice, but everyone was confident everything could be pulled together.

According to Odell, PEAK began a campaign on Facebook to get as many lights donated by the community as possible. The group was donated approximately 20 strings of lights, on top of a couple purchased big rolls. As the evening went on, it was hoped additional lights would be brought as people showed up.

However, the tree lighting was not the only aspect of the event. The other part of the evening was less joyous, but no less important to the community.

It was noted the holidays are not necessarily the happiest time of year for people who have lost loved ones or cannot be with them for other reasons. To honor lost loved ones, and support those left behind, it was requested people take a candle with them to the event and place it under the tree.

Though this was the first event of its kind, it was hoped it would become an annual event. Afterwards, people were asked for feedback on what could be improved or done differently.

“Somebody had suggested maybe we could get Santa to come, but there wasn’t enough time for that,” said Odell. “So that’s something we could consider for next year. Hopefully we can make it bigger every year.”

PEAK plans to hold other events throughout the year. According to Odell, the group would like to hold a Shakespeare in the Park event, to raise money for another project. The event, Shakespeare in the School, was described as a way to get Shakespeare’s works into the Alberton schools.

The Foundation would also like to hold seasonal festivals and other activities.

“We’ve got lots of ideas,” said Odell.

The Foundation’s hope is to help get more excitement into the community and encourage greater participation among the kids in town.

“The kids are bored,” said Odell. “There’s not much to do around here, we’re just looking to bring them more activities to do.”

More information about the PEAK Foundation can be found on the group’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/thePEAKfoundation.