A GLOWING TRADITION
Brawley’s annual tree lighting ceremony keeps aiming higher
BRAWLEY — Christmas carols, free hot chocolate and cookies, and an appearance from Santa Claus himself were all part of the festivities as city o cials and dozens of local families turned out for city’s annual Tree Lighting Ceremony Wednesday night at the North Plaza Park kiosk.
Prior to Mayor Pro-tem Norma Kastner-Jauregui leading the countdown to the lighting of the kiosk and the tree, kindergartners from Myron D. Witter and Phil D. Swing elementary schools entertained with a few festive songs.
“They all did great,” Kastner-Jauregui said. “It’s kind of our kick-off to our Christmas season. It’s a great community event. Everybody likes socializing and seeing their kids perform.”
Each year, the city attempts to outdo itself with the number of Christmas lights featured in the event, she said. “It’s been our goal to add more lighting to our park, and we’re working on getting lights put throughout all of our plaza.”
Mayor Donald Wharton remembered back in the early 2010s when the kiosk had been without lights or an official lighting event.
“As a collective council, we wanted to do something a little bit more special downtown, since all our focus has been downtown here in the plaza area,” said Wharton, who has been on the City Council since 2012. “There was the kiosk improvement that was made a few years ago, the decorating of the kiosk, and, obviously, the feature of adding the Christmas tree and having the lighting ceremony. Having that whole thing come together, having everyone come out and having this kind of repeated turnout is fantastic.”
In coming years, the city hopes to cover the entire plaza and downtown areas with Christmas lights.
“So hopefully by next year, the lights will be up also in our Main Street down the 500 and 600 block,” Kastner-Jauregui said.
Wharton said the city hopes to implement the first phase of a decorative lighting project in the Plaza Park area by next year.
“We really have to think of some other things that we can do, maybe down the center of town,” he said. “We really want it to be festive and enjoyable, so pedestrians and traffic are attracted to downtown and want to come down to want to spend time here.”