And in the midst of all this connection and feeling at one with humanity are a lot of opportunities for fun! Don't let the Christmas season pass you by without taking time to evaluate what's available to you in your city to enjoy with the community around you. That's what I hope to do myself during this holiday season.
On my walk into work a week or two ago, I saw a flyer posted in the Capitol Mall advertising some Capitol Christmas events, especially the tree lighting ceremony. I had wandered over there one other year, but I'm pretty sure it was after the lighting had happened and that I've never seen the big event. It was scheduled for the perfect time (right after work) and seemed like fun, so I took a picture of the flyer and mentally penciled it into my calendar.
When that Tuesday night rolled around, I walked across the street from my office building and joined the others who were also arriving a few minutes before the 5:00 start time.
I got a program and noticed that all the chairs were taken, and the steps were filled up as well. Luckily I found an out of the way spot next to a Christmas tree display where I could stand without being in anyone's way and where I'd have a good view of the big tree that would be lit. Note to self: If I come again, arrive earlier!
By the time the program started, people were jam packed into the rotunda. They were smooshed together in the small spaces left to stand, and a bunch of people, especially those with kids, even grabbed a seat on the tile floor. Thinking back, something about that makes it feel more Christmassy, doesn't it? Everyone all close together to celebrate the night. (Ok yes, it was somewhat claustrophobic at the time, but I'm allowed to look back and romanticize it, yes?) And, there were a lot of kids in attendance! My guess is that the draw of Santa, Mrs Claus, and cookies had something to do with that :)
The night started off with South Salem High School's symphonic choir who performed a variety of songs, some of which were traditional Christmas tunes, and some that I had never heard before. The music was pretty and they did a nice job. However, the children next to me got a little antsy/rambunctious. At the end of their performance, the choir decided to come out in the crowd and sing among us. It was much too crowded for that to work very well, but I think the idea was that they wanted to encourage the audience to sing along. The choir director had passed out some song sheets a bit haphazardly and the audience was invited to join in for two songs. I was surprised to hear so many voices sing out. I'm not sure why I was surprised, it was a Christmassy crowd after all.
Their performance ended with a rendition of Silent Night. It started out in sort of a round so that the melody wasn't exactly clear. But towards the end when they got to the traditional version, the audience began to sing along. And I know this probably sounds cliche, but it's true: When the whole group of Oregonians squished there in the rotunda together started singing Silent Night, a calm really did come over the crowd. Almost all of the kids almost immediately settled down. It felt peaceful.
After the choir exited, it was time for some words from Oregon's dignitaries. Each person who spoke was first announced by trumpet fare before they descended the steps! I thought that was a nice touch.
Through the speeches I learned that this was the 35th anniversary of the tree lighting ceremony, that the tree on display is a 30 foot noble fir, and that it came from the Clatsop State Forest. The last speaker was our Governor, Kate Brown, who was accompanied by her husband. I thought it was pretty cool to get to see her.
After she said a few words, Santa and Mrs. Claus got their own trumpet fare, then politicians and fantasy characters worked together to throw a switch (which I can only imagine was fake...unless we have some sort of fancy blue tooth/wireless tree lighting system..) and voila, the tree was lit!
As the crowd thinned out to go make their wishes known to Santa or partake in some cookies and punch, I wandered around the rotunda a little to get a closer look at some of the decorations - the big tree, the train set beneath it, other Christmas trees each decorated with a theme, and a Christmas covered wagon (gotta love Oregon :)).
So here's my recommendation: The tree lighting ceremony might not be worth it. It was a little long, a little boring, and a little crowded. I might have had a better outlook on it if I had found a seat though. But, here's what I do recommend: Go to the capitol! Wander around! Check out the decorations! You'll enjoy taking it all in. And, as they announced at the ceremony, every Monday-Saturday from now until December 23rd, there are musical performances at the Capital from 10:00am-2:00pm. That might be a nice way to spend part of your lunch hour and get a bit of the community-wide Christmas spirit.
AND - be on the lookout for other fun downtown Salem Christmas activities! A great way to find them is at the Go Salem 365 website. Just a quick perusal of the site shows Christmas movies at the Elsinore every Wednesday night, various Christmassy things at Willamette University, a craft social at Bush Barn, the Children's Nutcracker, and more!
Merry month of Christmas!
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