Lincoln lights up holiday season with tree, parade

The fog and chilly temperature didn't stop 4,000 Lincoln residents from its Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on Dec. 4 in Beermann Plaza, nor the 10,000 residents who lined the city's core streets for Saturday night's Holiday Parade. The Friday night tree lighting featured local singing groups, lots of food and Christmas-present option vendors and, of course, Santa Claus finding out who was naughty, and who was nice. At 7 p.m. promptly, Mayor Holly Andreatta began the countdown to the tree lighting, which included a cascade of "snow" from the treetop. Saturday evening saw the largest Holiday Parade in the city's history. The original float count of 73 entries swelled to 128 by showtime, but no one minded the extra length. The line of floats was so long that persons in the opening contingent had time to complete the full circuit and join friends on the last floats when they first started to move out. Mayor Andreatta said, "Saturday's Hometown Parade was another great example of what makes Lincoln special. It's always so heartwarming to see the kids laughing, waving and catching candy. Thank you to the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and all the volunteers for another great parade." Lincoln Chamber CEO Tom Indrieri, whose organization planned and executed both events, said, "The past few days, our downtown felt like a snow globe coming to life. With our tree lighting and parade turning an ordinary night into something magical."