by Kristen Shlakman
With the holiday season in full swing, campus seems to be catching on to the festive buzz as the month rolls on.
Capital had its annual Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony at 6 p.m. Tuesday Nov. 27 at the fountains to kick off the holiday season and bring together the community in the same spirit.
The ceremony started with Capital’s a cappella group, Philomel, singing Christmas carols as the crowd arrived.
“The group was absolutely awesome,” senior Sam Jobe said. “I was disappointed I had to come late and couldn’t hear their entire performance.”
The group stole the crowd before the ceremony with their holiday tunes that seemed to set the mood for the entire evening.
While lighting the Christmas tree and spreading the holiday spirit was a main focus for the event, spectators also got to see just how giving Capital students have been this year.
Bethanie Yoder and President Denvy Bowman shared the results of a winter coat drive that students participated in throughout the semester.
The Open Shelter was present at the ceremony to receive the exact results and personally thank the Capital community for their donations to those in need.
“It was really neat to see where our donations were going and who they were helping,” junior Will Gehring said. “The fact that the director took the time to come out and personally thank us made it that much more special.”
All the donations collected went directly to the organization and will benefit families in the community this winter.
The ceremony also highlighted the number of service hours students have completed over the course of the year and made a point to address how dedicated Capital students have been both on and off campus.
When it came time to actually light the tree, President Bowman and his special helper, Santa Clause, started lighting the first candles.
Each participant was given a candle and the flame was passed along to everyone to create the “shining” effect. Dr. Hassler informed the crowd about the purpose of the candles and reminded us that our job is to symbolically spread “shining light” to others during this holiday season.
It was a beautiful scene as the ceremony was closing, listening to Philomel singing “Silent Night,” and the crowd starting to join in.
The ceremony definitely brought the holiday feel back to campus and helped spectators remember the true meaning of the holidays.
With the crazy hustle and bustle that this season brings, it was nice to bring the Capital community together and help us remember the real reason we all celebrate the holidays.
kshlakma@capital.edu
