BIG LITTLE TREE LIGHTING

Twenty-four hours after "The Big Tree Lighting," I decide to drive uptown to see this big tree, the tree so special that it requires fireworks.

Before I tell you what I see, I need to tell you what I expect.

I expect to find a large, colorful, fully-lit tree hoisted up in the center of the town park behind Main Street.  Okay, so I don't expect it to be as big as the tree that used to stand at the office park a mile away, but I expect something, that much I do know.

The old tree lighting in bygone days would take place in the parking lot of a converted factory that had turned into office spaces.  There was always a huge tree, the bigger the better, and it rivaled the trees put up in New York City and Washington, DC.  One year the tree, at 100 feet, won the national title as tallest Christmas tree.  There were rides and fundraisers and Toys for Tots and caroling and it was fabulous.  Then, in 2014, Scrooge bought the office complex, planted a permanent tree that keeled over and died, and that was the last of it.

I am pretty sure my town will never see another 100-foot tree, but somehow I am hopeful that something similar, even on a smaller scale, is happening.  So, this evening on my way home from an amazing Christmas concert in Maine, I drive to the town park, expectations in full gear, anticipating a line of people staring at some semi-replica of the way it used to be.

Instead, I am greeted by an empty parking lot and a white-lighted Christmas tree that doesn't even rival one in someone's yard.  It isn't even in the park; it's off to the side and is just some random giant bush alongside the town municipal building.

I know, I know; don't be the Grinch.  Every party needs a pooper (er ... pooh-per?), right?  Yup.  It's better than nothing, I suppose.  It's just that Christmas used to be so big around here.  We used to be Bedford Falls, then we became Pottersville.  Now, we're some Twilight Zone place in between -- no, worse.  We're in a Night Gallery episode and they're tearing down Tim Riley's Bar.

Advent starts today.  My tree is up.  Some of my shopping is done.  I have a lot of things for which to be thankful.  Unfortunately, the town tree isn't one of those things anymore.