I would like to say a very heartfelt thank you to all of you who attended our first-ever Christmas tree lighting ceremony in front of the Morton Community Foundation office.
The turnout was extremely gratifying, and the energy in the crowd was strong as the Morton Junior High choir sang Christmas carols, mayor Norm Durflinger addressed the crowd, pastor Doane Brubaker gave a prayer of Thanksgiving and asked God’s blessing on the upcoming Christmas season, and everyone gave a loud countdown to the lighting of the giant Tree of Dreams.
I was extremely proud of our community, and thankful to be able to celebrate using the correct name of Christmas and to be able to include such a very nice prayer by pastor Brubaker. As you all know, there are more and more communities where a celebration such as this would not be welcome anymore.
I would also like to gratefully acknowledge the following people who made this event possible: Shirley Hildebrand of Hildebrand Christmas Tree Farm for donating the 21-foot Christmas tree; Jay Winkel of J.M. Winkel Lawncare & Landscaping for his help in cutting, transporting, erecting and decorating the tree; Susan Pyles and the Morton Business Association for their involvement in helping organize and promote the entire Holidazzle Shopping Experience downtown; Mitch and Lindsey Morgan, owners of Pure Essence Salon, for their help financially, promoting with a live radio remote and with decorating the tree; Becky Grimm of Grimm Interiors for her help in designing and obtaining the decorations for the tree; Dave Breeden, MJHS choir director, and his choir for singing beautiful Christmas carols and for bringing a lot of energy and enthusiasm to our celebration; Mayor Durflinger for enthusiastically addressing the crowd that night; and pastor Brubaker for offering the prayer.
I hope everyone was as excited as I was. I think this can build into a very special Christmas tradition. Next year, we hope to see even more people attend. If necessary, we can have Main Street closed off to accommodate the crowds.
Scott Witzig
executive director, Morton Community Foundation
