Community coming together for Christmas tree lighting
The Underwood Civic Club and Northern Expressions Arts Council are trying to put the “Community” back into the Community Christmas this year, starting by bringing back the old tradition of having a Community Christmas Tree.
The idea of bringing back the Community Christmas Tree resurfaced at a Northern Expressions Arts Council meeting this summer, with members of the group tossing around the idea of trying to incorporate a tree lighting with some Christmas caroling and hot chocolate – a traditional small-town community event.
The Underwood Civic Club held a tree lighting for years, but when the evergreen on Lincoln Ave. on the West River Telecommunications lot was topped, the event stopped.
Because of this year’s draught, it didn’t seem like a good year to try to take down the tree and transplant a new one, so the group came up with a contingency plan – find a tree in town that’s still pretty centrally located, and see if the property owners will let their tree be this year’s Community Christmas Tree.
Enter Dale and Marcia Blotske, who live on the corner of Lincoln and Third St. in Underwood.
Marcia was approached to see if she and Dale would consider allowing the community to use their large evergreen for the tree lighting. She had to check with Dale first.
