It’s not even Thanksgiving yet, however, in High Point, it’s already beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
On Wednesday, Nov. 15, the High Point Public Library hosted its annual tree lighting ceremony and also opened up the very popular Guilford Merchant Association “Selfie Sleigh.”
The library’s Christmas tree was donated in December of 2019 by library supporter and local attorney Jim Morgan and his wife Ann.
This week, Jim – with a little help from Santa Claus – flipped the light switch just after 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15.
The Selfie Sleigh is provided by the Guilford Merchants Association and is sponsored this year by Pinnacle Financial Partners. Local residents are being encouraged to bring their friends down to the sleigh, pile aboard and get some selfies to post on social media sites.
The sleigh and tree will remain lit through the first week of January.
The High Point Public Library at 901 N/ Main St. is a very active library that consistently offers programs, events, readings and food markets that make it more of a community center than just a place to check out books. In fact, the lofty stated purpose of the museum is “strengthening the sense of community, and enhancing economic and cultural vitality.”
The tree lighting this week in High Point is a little precocious as public tree lighting ceremonies go. In Greensboro this year, the tree lighting and the start of the Festival of Lights will take place in the month that Christmas actually falls: It will be on Friday, Dec. 1 – though many of the details of the lighting and the Festival of Lights have not been revealed.
The festival in downtown Greensboro has been a holiday tradition for nearly four decades. Every year, it includes attractions such as a community sing-along, the lighting of the tree in Center City Park, Santa – or perhaps a person impersonating Santa – in Hamburger Square, and carolers and musicians performing along Elm Street.
