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The ceremony may have been short and sweet, but it was still full of meaning for attendees.

The city of Edwardsville officially kicked off the Christmas season Tuesday night with its annual Mayor’s Tree Lighting ceremony.

“It was very good. I liked it,” said Edwardsville resident Tammy Trobough. “(It) get’s a real kick off for (Christmas).”

The ceremony, which lasted about 10 minutes, began with carols such as “O, Christmas Tree” being sung by the Edwardsville Elementary Choir. The main attraction, of course, was the lighting of the city’s 12-foot Christmas tree and a small lighting display that included Santa, one of his elves and a train filled with presents.

After the crowd counted down from three, Josh Brooks, an officer with the Edwardsville Police Department, flipped the switch to show off the tree and display in all their lighted glory. Then, after a couple of more carols sung by the choir, it was off to the Edwardsville Community Center to warm up with hot chocolate, cookies and a tête-à-tête with Santa.

Tammie Burgoon, organizer and Edwardsville Parks and Recreation director, said she thought the turnout for this year’s tree lighting was the largest it had been since the parks and recreation department took over the organizing of the event three years ago. With the new addition this year of the Christmas display, she said she hoped people were pleased.

“And I just hope that everybody’s excited with the new additions … and we plan on adding (to the event) every year,” she said, adding that another new addition this year was the row of twinkle lights across the roof of Edwardsville City Hall. “And this is the first time that city hall itself has been lit up.”

People were, as Burgoon had hoped, quite pleased with Tuesday’s ceremony. Though he said he was too old to sit on Santa’s lap and tell Santa his Christmas wish, Edwardsville Elementary fifth grader J.R. Reno said he enjoyed the night’s festivities. His favorite part, he said, was singing in the choir.

“It was fun. I like to sing Christmas carols and stuff,” he said. “They’re just really fun to sing with other people and just gets the Christmas spirit rising.”

While waiting in line to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas, Kyah Surritte, a fourth grader at Bonner Springs Elementary, said the ceremony also got her in to the Christmas spirit.

“I thought it was awesome,” Surritte, who lives in Bonner Springs but was invited by her aunt to Edwardsville’s ceremony, said. She added that she would be performing in the Bonner Springs Elementary Choir next week during Bonner’s Vaughn-Trent Christmas Parade and tree lighting ceremony.

“I thought it was really pretty,” she said of Edwardsville’s Christmas tree.

And what was her Christmas wish for Santa?

“I really want the new Justin Bieber CD,” she said.

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