An annual holiday tradition will return later this week in Jefferson.

The Thomas Jefferson Gardens Board is sponsoring the Christmas Tree Lighting event on Thursday. The event begins with holiday music performed at the Thomas Jefferson Gardens Education and Welcome Center at 6pm. The Christmas tree, donated by Deal’s Orchard, will be lit, followed by a rooftop appearance with Santa Claus at 6:15pm. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Santa will not meet with the children as in past years.

However, Santa will collect the letters that children can drop off at the special Santa mailbox, located next to the Welcome Center main entrance. Next to the mailbox is the registration for Tag a Tree. There, anyone can write down a wish, along with their name and a phone number, and they will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Chamber Check prize. Submissions for the Tag a Tree must be made by December 10th. 

Another change to the tree lighting event is the Thomas Jefferson Gardens is working with local volunteers to read holiday stories, which will be available on the Jefferson Telecom cablevision on demand starting December 3rd.