On Friday night the City of Auburn Hills celebrated our 28th Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony in Downtown Auburn Hills. Residents enjoyed many festivities including pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus, horse-drawn wagon and carriage rides, entertainment from our favorite winter princesses, live reindeer, children’s music and stories, freshly made hot donuts, s’mores over a warm fire, and live ice carving! There was so much to do and see – the magic of the season was in the air.
Mayor McDaniel kicked off the evening’s events with a welcome to the City, after taking a moment of silence to reflect upon and support the greater Oxford community. Mayor McDaniel announced the winner of the Creative Writing Contest, 4th grader Easton Schipper, and then Santa and Mrs. Claus were welcomed to the stage and received the Key to the City. Together, the community sang carols and watched the beautiful tree light up the evening. The Auburn Hills Christmas tree is 35 feet tall and contains 24,200 lights!
You can visit Downtown Auburn Hills merchants and see the tree nightly throughout the Christmas season. Santa’s Mailbox is stationed next to the tree and will be located there through Christmas if any children wish to mail a letter to Santa in the next few weeks.
The Tree Lighting Ceremony is put on by a coordinated effort between the Parks and Recreation Department and the Department of Public Works, with support from other City departments. This year’s event was generously sponsored by TIFA and the DDA. We hope our Auburn Hills community enjoyed the evening and we wish you all a very merry holiday season.
Sage Hegdal, Recreation Director
Inside Auburn Hills 