The Town of Collierville came together last night for its 18th annual Christmas tree lighting. The festivities kicked off at 5:30 pm with over 210 gallons of hot chocolate being served by Board of Mayor and Aldermen.  As the crowds grew, they were treated to a selection of beautiful Christmas music performed by Tara Oaks Elementary School, Crosswinds Elementary School, West Collierville Middle School, and Collierville High School.  The stage was then turned over to the Germantown Baptist Church Jazz band.  As anticipation grew, Mayor Stan Joyner announced that Santa and Mrs. Claus had arrived in Collierville and were being escorted to the tree lighting by the Collierville Fire Department.  With his words still hanging in the air, the sound of the fire truck siren could be heard in the background to the delight of young and old alike.  As Mr. and Mrs. Claus made their way up to the stage, the countdown began. 

And just like that, the Christmas season was officially underway.  As the Collierville United Methodist Church’s Handbells rounded out the musical portion of the tree lighting, all the good boys and girls of Collierville lined up for a chance to talk to Santa in the gazebo which was decked out in all its Christmas splendor.  Other chose to stroll around the square admiring all the beautiful lights and decorations.  This is the first year the town has used LED lights, and the effect was breathtaking.  With over 125,000 pure white lights adorning the surrounding greenery and railing, and, for the first time ever, over 500 white lights adorned the Executive Train Car.  The 30-foot cedar tree that has been used for the town’s Christmas centerpiece for over 20 years also got in on the LED action with 400 colored lights being added bringing to total light count to 4,500.  Each year, town crews spend over 3 days attaching lights and decorations to the tree and have been hard at work since the first of November decorating the rest of the square. 

A new addition this year is an 18 foot Christmas tree placed at the corner of North Rowlett and Main.  This tree is covered with over 1,100 RGB lights in addition to the traditional red and green ornaments and is programmed to create animated light shows that are coordinated with Christmas music. 

With many of the shops on the square getting into the spirit of the season with shop windows decorated in their Christmas best, make sure Collierville Town Square is on your list of places to visit this Holiday Season.