BAY CITY, MI - The holiday season is officially here in Bay City. The annual tree lighting ceremony took place on Friday, Nov. 26 at Wenonah Park where a massive blue spruce was lit with nearly a mile of LED lights.
The tree lighting ceremony returned in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic darkened last year’s festivities. The pandemic caused there to be no official tree-lighting ceremony in 2020. However, 2021 was a different story. Freezing weather didn’t keep the crowds away, with Wenonah Park being filled with families eager to see the tree and Santa Claus.
“26 degrees out and we probably had about 4,000 people down here - the plaza was entirely filled and the wings of the plaza were entirely filled too. That was a good amount of people and it’s nice to see the people come out and support these kinds of things,” said Mike Bacigalupo, the event master of ceremonies.
Click here to watch a video of the entire tree lighting event on the Bay City Time’s Facebook page.
The large spruce tree was donated by Tammy and Joe McInereny of Bay County after the couple connected with organizers Dave and Sally Clements. The Clements are in their sixth year of placing and lighting the city’s Christmas tree. On the morning of Monday, Nov. 22 the McInereny’s tree was cut down, hoisted up onto a flatbed truck, and hauled to downtown Bay City across Veterans Memorial Bridge.
The lighting also featured an extra surprise from the Clements. Two lighted toy soldiers that were originally a part of Bay City’s River of Lights holiday display were restored by Dave Clements and placed by the tree to watch over it.
“They were resurrected and Dave basically put them back together and made it so that they can guard the tree and make sure every year a new one comes out, he comes out with something new every year,” said Bacigalupo.
The River of Lights event ended in 2008 but Dave Clements has been working on rescuing and restoring multiple old light displays from it to bring them back to life using modern LED lighting. Clements previously restored the Santa Claus and reindeer light display in 2019 and the Peace on Earth globe in 2020, which were previously placed on top of the former F.P. Horak building during the River of Lights. Now, Santa and his reindeer sit on the Historical Museum of Bay County, 321 Washington Ave. and the globe is the newly renovated Wenonah Park bandshell. The toy soldiers are the latest restoration project.
After the tree was lit, children were able to visit with Santa Claus and got a chance to tell them what they’d like for Christmas. Mid Michigan Carriage Co. was offering carriage rides throughout the evening and Miss Bay County handed out free books to children.
“It was cold but it was a great night and everybody seemed to have a great time,” said Bacigalupo.
The display was made possible this year by numerous community organizations.
Those with photos from the event are asked to share them with the Downtown Bay City official Facebook page.
More from MLive:
Downtown Bay City adding 7-foot-tall fireplaces
Giant Christmas tree standing tall and ready for Bay City’s 2021 lighting ceremony, Santa’s arrival
‘Peace on Earth’ display to shine once again in Bay City alongside annual Christmas tree
Santa and his reindeer light display to shine over Bay City once again
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Crowd fills Wenonah Park for 2021 tree lighting and Santa’s arrival in Bay City - mlive.com
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