Kansas Citians will join together to light the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Friday evening. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. at Crown Center Square.
Tech N9ne is the featured celebrity at this year’s ceremony and he also joined Mayor James at a special event earlier this year at City Hall to declare September as Attendance Awareness Month. At that event, he helped city officials and education leaders emphasize the importance of school attendance to Kansas City families.
The 100-foot-tall Mayor’s Christmas Tree, one of the nation’s tallest, is the centerpiece of the holiday celebration. The douglas fir is taller than both the White House Christmas Tree and the tree at Rockefeller Center in New York. There are about 7,200 white lights and more than 1,200 ornaments on the Mayor’s Christmas Tree.
The tree is a symbol of the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Fund, which is dedicated to assisting the city’s less fortunate. Last year the fund helped over 7,000 Kansas City families.
After the holidays, the wood from the Mayor’s Christmas Tree is made into commemorative ornaments, which are sold the following year to benefit the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Fund. The 2013 ornament goes on sale Friday at the Crown Center Customer Service for $12.50.
Donations are used to provide gifts to elderly shut-ins and hospital patients, food and clothing for the needy, parties for needy children and much more. Donation boxes are located inside the Crown Center Shops.
The Rockhurst High School Concert Choir will perform as well as local brass quintet Masterpiece Brass. Fireworks immediately following the ceremony.
“For over a century, the Mayor’s Christmas Tree has stood as a symbol of the generosity, kindness and compassion of Kansas Citians. Last year, we helped thousands of families in the City,” said Mayor James. “As always, I know I can count on Kansas Citians to come through again this year for those in our community who need a hand this holiday season.”
