Lowell covered bridge tree lighting event well attended

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Lowell covered bridge just after Saturday’s tree lighting event as event-goers head home. Sam Dragt photo

By GAIL HARRIS/for The Herald — The tree lighting was a great success.

Beginning at 4:30 the school district provided bus transportation from the city on Pioneer to the bridge as it was too dangerous to walk on the causeway, especially in the dark. Additionally there is limited parking at the bridge.

The lighting of the tree was scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm. Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived on the Lowell fire truck promptly at 5. They had a spot inside the bridge where they greeted the children, listened to their Christmas wishes and passed out candy canes, along with Moms and Dads getting their children’s Christmas pictures with Santa.

Carolers came from many of the neighboring communities

Becky Silebi of Lowell organized about 15 singers to form a wonderful acapella group who stood at the entrance to the bridge and sang carols. They were quite wonderful and included residents from Lowell, Fall Creek, Dexter, Pleasant Hill, and Springfield. They also led carols with all who were in attendance just prior to, and immediately following, the tree lighting.

The Lowell Grange provided free cookies, hot coffee, and warm apple cider to all.

Lowell’s Mayor, Don Bennett, greeted the crowd and acted as the emcee for the evening’s festivities. The Mayor took a couple of minutes to thank all who made the event possible.

The lighting event started with all the lights out on the bridge. And then, everybody counted down from ten, and then on came the tree lights. There was somewhere around 100 in attendance and the event lasted about an hour.

Many elves made the event a success

The groups we at the City would like to thank are as follows:

– George Wild who created song sheets, and parking passes

– The Lowell Grange: cookies and drinks

– The Lowell Fire Dept who directed traffic and cleaned the bridge prior to the event

– The Lowell School District for bus transportation.

– The Lowell City Public Works who made sure the bridge was set up and all lights were in place and worked, they also set up the tree.

– Becky Silebi and the singers for their wonderful performance, and

– Pat and Valley Todd for being our Santa and Mrs. Claus

George Custer

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George Custer lives in Oakridge with his wife Sayre. George is a former smokejumper from his hometown of Cave Junction, a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. and ran a construction company in Southern California. George assumed the volunteer duties as the Editor of the Highway 58 Herald in 2022. He loves riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, building all things wood, and playing drums on the weekends in his office.

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