Air Base 2021 Tree Lighting

The Air Base officially kicked off the 2021 holiday season with its annual tree lighting on December 1st of this year. 

Families living in Hunt community housing were invited to gather together to follow Santa on the Air Force firetruck to the festivities. It was a short, sweet parade for the children. We even stopped traffic to let Santa and his elves disembark to hand out candy canes and say hello to every child present. The kids' excitement was so fun to see - and I gather some of their Christmas wish list items were also fun to hear.

Our Air Base chaplain started the ceremony with an invocation and prayer. Afterwards, he introduced Colonel Greene, the Commander of the 628th Air Base Wing and Joint Base Charleston, to speak. Colonel Greene and Santa's elves also had the best job of the evening: to select one child present to help light the tree at the end of the countdown. Colonel Greene and a lucky young gentleman switched on the lights and the front gate, and just like that, the Air Base was officially celebrating Christmas season.

We hope you made it out to experience the event. Our youth center choir sang were the most enthusiastic carolers you could hope for. The cutest camper-turned-photo booth, The Little White Box, was equipped with every holiday hat and accessory you can think of to make for a festive photo booth experience. One of the Fire Department's special mailboxes - the letter go straight to Santa, you know - was set up at a letter writing station to make getting those wishes to the North Pole simple. Don't forget, every letter dropped in the box will get a response from the big man himself. Also, a special thank you goes to our sponsors from Comcast and Grow Financial Federal Credit Union, who handed out hot cider, hot chocolate, brownies, and cookies to everyone present.