From left to right, 5-year old Victoria Chu and 7-year-old Jasmine Chu, of Battle Ground, enjoy hot cocoa, cookies and coloring during the annual tree lighting at the Battle Ground Community Center.
One of the trees decorated for the Battle Ground annual tree lighting is seen here.
North County holiday celebrations are in full swing as Battle Ground kicked off its holiday happenings at the community center with a tree lighting ceremony, a visit from Santa and refreshments for all.
“It’s important to bring the whole community together and just celebrate the season and have some fun,” Battle Ground Recreation and Facilities Supervisor Mattie Buckmiller said. “The more people you can get together, the more commonalities we find in each other.”
The event brought in families from all over the county to enjoy live music from the Battle Ground Jazz Choir and refreshments such as hot cocoa and cider. Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived by Fire District 3 escort around 5:45 p.m.
Santa and Mrs. Claus led the community in a tree lighting ceremony and lit up downtown Battle Ground with lights of many colors for the holiday season. This year, Buckmiller said she added a second decorated tree in front of the community center.
“We wanted to have a brighter and more festive appearance in front of the building,” she said.
After the trees brightened up the night, the festivities went inside for pictures and gift list sharing with Santa. While she was nervous when meeting Santa, 7-year-old Jasmine said she is on the good list this year and hopes to get a toy puppy.
“I’m going to name him Christmas,” she said, adding that her favorite part of the event was the hot cocoa.
Five-year-old Victoria echoed Jasmine’s thoughts about Santa and said she also hopes to get a toy puppy. She wants to name the toy puppy “Love Puppy.”
When asked what her favorite part of the event was, Victoria said “hanging out with my family.”
