LF_120519

4 | December 5, 2019 | The lake forest leader NEWS
LakeForestLeaderDaily.com
Posted to LakeForestLeaderDaily.com 4 days ago
Holiday season begins with annual tree lighting
Katie Copenhaver
Freelance Reporter
Lake Forest city officials
and residents kicked
off the holiday season
with the 36th annual tree
lighting ceremony in
Market Square on Friday,
Nov. 29.
Hundreds turned out
for the afternoon festivities,
which began with a
screening of the holiday
favorite “Home Alone”
in the theater named after
Director John Hughes
and his wife Nancy at the
Gorton Community Center.
Following that, the
family-friendly activities
continued outside on the
square.
Event sponsors were
lined up in two tents giving
out holiday treats and
beverages. They included
Lake Forest Bank and
Trust, @Properties, Oertel
Group/Compass and State
Farm Agent Jeff Smith.
Goshgarian Orthodontics
ran a craft project
for kids. The Lake Forest
Dance Academy was
holding a bake sale fundraiser
to support their
holiday tour of retirement
and nursing homes.
Event Manager John
Eldridge, from Lake Forest
Parks and Recreation,
noted that in the five years
since he started running
this event, the number of
sponsor tents has grown.
They went from one
sponsor tent last year to
two tents this year, and
they might need three
tents next year. The idea is
to provide attendees with
a full afternoon of activities.
“We hope people will
come over to the square
right after the movie,” he
The Lake Forest High School Choir sings festive holiday tunes during the Lake Forest
tree lighting ceremony on Friday, Nov. 29. Photos by Alex Newman/22nd Century
Media
said, and also pointed out
the display of shiny new
cars, the only ones parked
in the square that afternoon,
from sponsor Fields
Auto Group.
Santa Claus was on
hand in the square with
a line of kids waiting
their turn with him. Adjacent
to him for all ages
were ice sculptors from
Art Below Zero creating
two sculptures out of ice
blocks and a power saw.
The finished works were
a wreath for Lake Forest
Bank and Trust and Frosty
the Snowman.
According to Master
Sculptor Max Bollkman
Zuleta, Art Below Zero
has been participating in
this event for 14 years,
since the beginning of
their organization.
All this led up to the
tree lighting ceremony at
dusk from the Metra train
platform.
The Lake Forest High
School choir started it
by singing more than a
dozen holiday classics,
including “Sleigh Ride”
with one student on bells
and another with a whip
for sound effects, “I’ll
Be Home for Christmas,”
“White Christmas,” “It
Came Upon a Midnight
Clear,” “Joy to the World”
and “Let It Snow.”
The students were directed
by Tim Haskett in
his last appearance at this
event, which he clearly
enjoys, acting as emcee.
He will be retiring from
his position as music
teacher at the high school
at the end of the current
school year.
Next, the Lake Forest
Dance Academy, directed
by Valerie Gonzalez, performed
a routine to an
instrumental medley of
holiday songs.
Bill Gundlach, from
Friends of Lake Forest
Parks and Recreation
Foundation, said a
few words on behalf of
his organization, which
presents the tree lighting
ceremony. He then introduced
Lake Forest Mayor
George Pandaleon.
“Lake Forest is a city
with many treasures, and
this is one of the best,”
Pandaleon said of the
event and the square.
With the help of his
family, he flipped the
switch for lights on the
Christmas tree in the center
and the many other
trees around the square
and on Western Avenue.
The mayor encouraged
people to do their holiday
shopping locally, both
in the stores and through
their websites, “and skip
the Amazon middleman.”
The ceremony concluded
with the high school
choir singing the “Hallelujah
Chorus” from
Handel’s “Messiah.” They
were joined by alumni
from the audience, whom
Haskett invited to sing
with them.
Santa Claus made a special appearance during the
Lake Forest tree lighting ceremony to visit with the
children.
The tree lighting ceremony included an appearance by
an ice sculptor.
Following the organized
activities, most retailers
on the square were
open through the evening,
and the streets remained
blocked off to car traffic
and parking. It made for
a more traditional, community-centered
holiday
shopping event than the
Black Friday sales led by
big box retailers earlier
in the day at stores across
America.