VALDOSTA, GA – Mayor John Gayle and the Valdosta First Lady will officially kick off the holiday season in Valdosta at the annual Christmas Tree Lighting, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 5:30 p.m. Attendees will enjoy a special visit from Santa Claus, as he assists with the lighting of the tree at the event, which will be located on the front lawn of City Hall, at 216 E. Central Avenue.

City employees from the Fire, Public Works, and Engineering Departments are busy decorating City Hall and putting up banners and decorations throughout the downtown area in time for the holiday festivities. Today, city crews assembled the 30-foot tree located on the City Hall front lawn, the same one that will be lit at the tree lighting ceremony.

This year’s Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony will again feature the children from the Moody Air Force Base Youth Programs, who will provide entertainment with the singing of some holiday favorites. The children will present handcrafted ornaments to pay tribute to our deployed military and will use these special ornaments to decorate the tree located inside the City Hall foyer immediately following the tree lighting ceremony.

Spouses of deployed military personnel are invited to attend as the mayor’s personal guests, and event participants may sign greeting cards at the event that will be mailed to deployed military personnel in time for the Christmas holiday.

This event is free and open to the public. Main Street merchants and patrons, area citizens and guests are all invited to help kick off this special time of year. Hot cocoa and hot apple cider and other light refreshments provided by the Valdosta Main Street office may be enjoyed following the tree lighting ceremony.

Citizens who miss this event can watch the recap on Metro Valdosta Channel 17—the city’s government access channel on Mediacom—in December. For more information, contact Public Information Officer Sementha Mathews at (229) 259-3548.

Source: City Of Valdosta Press Release