Together, Lighting the Start of the Holiday

By Kara McCluskey

It is the small events in a little community that make that community great. To any outsider, the significance of these events is often unfamiliar and not understood, but to those within the community its specialness is never lost.

Every year, in the first week of December, the community of Hopkinton holds a tree lighting in Hopkinton Village. The attendance is often not extremely large, but to those that do attend it does not seem to matter. Unfortunately, to the dismay of some community members, the towering pine that used to be lit up each December was replaced a few years ago with a smaller, less impressive one. But it is not really the tree, but the idea of the event that brings most people around. Most faces are familiar, but even with the town’s small size, others are not. Many young families attend, with their children running around and playing with each other, often stumbling in their chunky winter boots and bulky coats.

The town band plays all the classic carols and everyone is invited to sing along. It is really quite a wonder that the band members can manage to play in such cold, but nonetheless they do. The air is filled with the foggy breath of community members singing, occasionally humming when words are forgotten. Hands in pockets, gently bouncing up and down to stay warm, everyone anxiously wait for the tree to be lit. Once lit, all will be invited to the Parish Hall of the First Congregational Church for hot chocolate and other holiday treats.

And at last, with the playing of O Christmas Tree, the tree is lit. With some applause, the town members celebrate what, in a way, represents the start of the holiday season. But this celebration is short lived as everyone, fed up with the cold, heads into the parish hall.

If you really think about it, there is nothing really exciting about lighting up a pine tree and singing Christmas carols out in the freezing cold. Nonetheless, many community members look forward to the event every year, if for nothing else, the spirit of the holiday and the spirit of community.