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Take A Shine To Displays, Tree Lightings

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The Associated Press

Published: November 18, 2007

NEW YORK - The lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center is probably the most famous celebration of its kind, and this year it will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 28. If you're not among the thousands crowding in to watch the event live in midtown Manhattan, you can watch from home on TV or stop by in person any time through Jan. 3.

But if you won't be coming through the Big Apple this holiday season, there may be a tree lighting or some other stupendous display near you. Here are some from around the country.

In Washington, D.C., the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony takes place at 5 p.m. Dec. 6 at the White House Ellipse. Tickets are required; find details at (202) 208-1631. Entertainers and a military band perform, and President Bush will speak. At 5 p.m. Dec. 5, the Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony takes place on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

Tonight in Los Angeles, Patti Labelle and Smokey Robinson will appear at The Grove for an annual Christmas tree-lighting, Hollywood-style. At the California state capitol in Sacramento, the tree-lighting usually takes place the first Tuesday in December.

Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who officiated at the ceremony with his wife Maria Shriver, took the bold step of calling it a Christmas tree, ending the use of the term "holiday tree."

On Christmas Eve in Louisiana, more than 100 bonfires are built along the bank of the Mississippi in the locales of Lutcher, Gramercy and Reserve. It's an old Cajun tradition, to guide the way for "Papa Noel."

Gray Line offers a six-hour trip to see the event, departing 3 p.m. from New Orleans, including a tour of the Destrehan Plantation and dinner. The cost is $73 for adults, $48 for children. Reservations can be made at 1-800-535-7786 or www.graylineneworleans.

com.

In Salt Lake City, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lights up trees in its downtown Temple Square at 5:30 p.m. the day after Thanksgiving.

In Boston, Nova Scotia sends a Christmas tree every year as thanks for relief sent from Massachusetts following the Halifax Explosion in 1917. This year's tree, a 45-foot tall white spruce, will be lit at 6 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Boston Common.

Chicago's 94th annual tree-lighting ceremony takes place Friday, starting at 4:30 p.m., in Daley Plaza.

Cincinnati's Norway spruce will be lit at Fountain Square at 6 p.m. Friday.

Atlanta's tree-lighting tradition takes place at Macy's in Lenox Square from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Many tree-lightings around the country don't involve evergreens. They consist of displays of thousands of lights strung together to look like trees.

In Charleston, S.C., the "tree" of lights will be lit in Marion Square between 4:30 and 6 p.m. Dec. 1. Kids love to run around beneath the illuminated "branches," and the ceremony is followed by a parade of lit-up boats on the waterfront.

In Indianapolis, the tree also consists of thousands of lights rather than a real evergreen. This year's lighting at Monument Circle downtown takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday.

In Texas, on Dec. 2, Austin hosts the lighting of the Zilker Tree, which consists of 3,309 bulbs on 39 streamers strung from Austin's Moonlight Tower. The tree is part of Zilker Metropolitan Park's Trail of Lights Festival, a mile-long, walk-through display of lighted scenes including Santa's House.

In Houston, the Uptown Holiday Lighting takes place on Thanksgiving, when thousands gather along Post Oak Boulevard to watch fireworks and the illumination of a half-million lights and 80 trees along Post Oak Boulevard.

Spending the holidays in Hawaii? Stop by to see the tree in Honolulu. The tree is selected by Department of Parks and Recreation workers, who scope out a candidate from somewhere on Oahu and ask its owner to donate it. Then it's transplanted and moved to City Hall. The tree will be lit Dec. 1 at nightfall.

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