Photo story: North Augusta ushers in the Christmas season with annual tree lighting ceremony
Christmas tree in downtown North Augusta's Calhoun Park, just after the switched was pulled during the city's annual tree lighting ceremony. Photo by Skyler Q. Andrews.
North Augusta’s annual Christmas tree lighting event began at 5 p.m. at Calhoun Park, Tuesday evening, in front of the historic Lookaway Inn. By about 6 p.m., then the sun had set and a mass of locals had gathered about the park anticipating Mayor Briton Williams’ countdown.
Crowd at Calhoun Park during Christmas Tree lighting, Dec. 3, 2024. Photo by Skyler Q. Andrews.
Long lines stayed steady outside the stage where Santa and Mrs. Claus waited for parents to bring children eager for photos with on St. Nick’s knee; and in front of a Christie’s Coffee’s mobile café, camped beside the inn.
From left, attendees of North Augusta’s Christmas Tree Lighting buy warm beverages at a Christie’s Coffee kiosk, families line up to let little ones take pictures with Santa, and St. Nick and Mrs. Claus greet them from the stage. Photos by Skyler Q. Andrews.Boy Scout Troop 7 roasting marshmallows at downtown North Augusta’s Christmas Tree Lighting event. Photo by Skyler Q. Andrews.Kids use crayons and markers to pen their letters to Santa Claus, to toss them in the Christmas delivery mailbox so they can Kris Kringle directly. Photos by Skyler Q. Andrews.Visitors at North Augusta’s Christmas Tree Lighting, Tuesday, walk through a gift-box archway in Calhoun Park. Photo by Skyler Andrews.Visitors take pictures in and around a giant, bedazzled ornament in Calhoun Park during North Augusta’s Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. Photo by Skyler Andrews.
North Augusta’s Boy Scout Troop 7, per its yearly tree lighting tradition, kept marshmallows going, and other kids wrote letters to Santa at a table next to a delivery box from where they could be sent to the North Pole posthaste.
The entrance to Lookway Inn in downtown North Augusta, decked out with Christmas decorations, during the city’s annual Tree Lighting Ceremony. Photo by Skyler Q. Andrews.Snow machine adds a whimsical, winsome winter touch to North Augusta’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. Photo by Skyler Q. Andrews.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
Skyler Andrews is a bona fide native of the CSRA; born in Augusta, raised in Aiken, with family roots in Edgefield County, S.C., and presently residing in the Augusta area. A graduate of University of South Carolina - Aiken with a Bachelor of Arts in English, he has produced content for Verge Magazine, The Aiken Standard and the Augusta Conventions and Visitors Bureau. Amid working various jobs from pest control to life insurance and real estate, he is also an active in the Augusta arts community; writing plays, short stories and spoken-word pieces. He can often be found throughout downtown with his nose in a book, writing, or performing stand-up comedy.
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