Mary Kistner of St. Charles and her husband John have an annual holiday tradition that dates back more than 15 years.
“Whether it’s raining, cold, snow, whatever, we’re always here,” Mary Kistner said as she and John stood with a crowd of people near the Fox River Friday night for the annual holiday lighting ceremony in St. Charles. “We moved to St. Charles 17 years ago and coming down here to see the holiday lights lit up is an annual event for us. To me, it’s the kick-off of the season, and we consider this a tradition. Our kids don’t live here anymore, but we keep coming back.”
The annual Lighting of the Lights ceremony began at 5 p.m. Friday at First Street Plaza in St. Charles.
An estimated crowd of more than 1,200 was on hand to enjoy a mild late November night and watch as the switch was thrown to illuminate the sky throughout the center of the city’s downtown and the Fox River.
St. Charles Mayor Lora Vitek said this was her second time overseeing the ceremony, one that began making a comeback last year coming out of the pandemic.
“For St. Charles this is probably one of our coolest events of the year. It just brings such energy and positive feelings,” Vitek said. “We did it last year, and we had a good turnout and this year with the good weather, we certainly expected more. It’s just a fun way to kick-off the holiday season for our community. I remember saying to the crowd last year how great it was for people to get out and celebrate the season.”
Jenna Sawicki, head of the St. Charles Business Alliance which once again organized the ceremony, said Friday was the start of holiday events in the city.
“We have been doing this for as long as I can remember and this kicks off the holiday season in St. Charles,” she said. “We turn the lights on in the plaza and the city. We always honor someone in the community by having them turn the lights on.”
While some cities like Aurora have one specific tree, the St. Charles ceremony lit up the whole plaza with light, something the Kistners said never gets old.
“We come back because the choir that’s here is always fabulous and they (the city) illuminate the First Street corridor and now that they’ve blocked this street off it’s a highlight,” Mary Kistner said.
John Kistner said he “likes the small town feel” of St. Charles and seeing people at the ceremony he knows as well as meeting new ones.
“It’s kind of a nice feeling,” Kistner said. “It’s easy to get down here and park and then go get a bite to eat and go home. Seeing the trees come on reminds me of when I was a kid.”
Nadia Crudele of Bartlett said she works at a nearby Realtor office and likes to visit the tree lighting as it’s so close to work.
“I work at the office across the street and I just like to hang out. It’s really pretty and Santa is coming today,” she said.
Grandparents like Madonna Strom and her husband Rich of St. Charles got into the act by bringing their two grandchildren, Brian, 4, and Theresa, 2, along.
“We used to bring our kids down here and the grands (grandchildren) from Madison were in for a couple of nights and we thought they would enjoy it,” Madonna Strom said. “It’s a nice night. If it was cold, we might have had to take a pass. This gets you in the spirit. I love the lights and the river and coming down here.”
“I like the downtown feel of St. Charles,” Rich Strom said. “It’s getting bigger. When I grew up here, there were only about 9,000 people. I’ve seen dozens of tree lightings but the only reason I’m here is to see this through the eyes of my grandchildren. I don’t think we’d be here without them.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
