It was Election Day, however it looked more like Christmas at Rice Park in downtown St. Paul on Tuesday.

Bystanders craned their necks upward to look at a crew assemble a 40-foot artificial holiday tree for a lighting ceremony on Friday.

It’s long been a convention to light up the true trees of St. Paul’s historic park to have fun the vacations and illuminate our winter, but this may only be the second 12 months that the Salvation Army’s “Tree of Lights” will probably be the sparkly focus in Rice Park.

The event also represents the Red Kettle Kick-Off for the organization, a fund-raising effort involving the pealing of bells at kettles across the Twin Cities and beyond.

But first, the tree should be assembled.

“This can be a 3-day process,” said Angel Fields Mitchell, divisional director of selling for the Salvation Army Northern Division, from Rice Park on Tuesday. “Tomorrow, we are going to decorate the tree.”

The ceremony

The tree-lighting ceremony at Rice Park will begin promptly at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

Although the Hallmark Channel began its “Countdown to Christmas” several days before Halloween, isn’t it a bit early for a real-life holiday tree lighting?

It is more common to attend until after Thanksgiving or into early December for official lightings. For instance, just a few blocks away in Lowertown, the Union Depot will host its annual Holiday Tree Lighting and Movie Night on Saturday, Dec. 2. That can also be the date that Stillwater will light up a tree as a part of the Twinkle Party.

The Friends of Mears Park, nonetheless, will hold its holiday lighting ceremony on the Lowertown locale on Saturday, Nov. 18.

Within the glow-up of Rice Park — each this 12 months and last — the early timing is attributable to the Salvation Army’s holiday schedule.

“Rice Park had gone and not using a tree for several years, so last 12 months we collaborated with the St. Paul Downtown Alliance to place up our tree in Rice Park,” Dan Furry, a Salvation Army spokesperson. “The event coincides with the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle kick-off, so that’s the reason it is mostly held the second weekend in November.”

Turnout on the 2022 holiday tree lighting — held on Nov. 12 in Rice Park — was strong, perhaps since it had been awhile since there was a vacation tree situated on this picturesque square of a park situated within the shadow of the gingerbread-castle-like Landmark Center.

“We had an amazing event,” Furry says.

The park and its tree was so pretty that it was even featured on the Hallmark Channel’s live cam on its website.

This 12 months’s event will include performances by the St. Paul Police Band Drumline, “The Voice” finalist Kat Perkins and Billboard chart-topping singer Jovonta Patton, in addition to an appearance by former Vikings star and NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter. Santa and Mrs. Claus will even be readily available.

Through the ceremony, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter will invite children within the audience onto the stage to assist him throw the switch and light-weight the vacation tree. The opposite trees within the park (and more) will light up at the identical time.

Latest this 12 months is a pyrotechnics program that may accompany the lighting of the trees. Santa’s mailbox will probably be on site, and free cookies and hot chocolate will even be served by the Salvation Army’s disaster services canteens.

The partnerships

While the Salvation Army is producing Friday’s tree-lighting event, the St. Paul Downtown Alliance is a lead partner with St. Paul in keeping downtown sparkly all winter long (most famously, that features the trees of Rice Park). The Alliance also works with Visit St. Paul to advertise the glint of “Saint Paulidays” at visitsaintpaul.com/saint-paulidays/.

When the Salvation Army first approached the town’s parks department, after which the Alliance, with the thought so as to add to downtown’s decorations with a special tree, it gave the impression of a festive idea, even when it had been awhile since Rice Park itself had hosted a vacation tree.

“The history of getting a tree in Rice Park is there,” says Emma Burns, director of operations for the Alliance. “The park is designed to carry a tree, with special engineering in place on the south side.”

When the switch is flipped on Friday, it can actually activate a wide range of twinkly lights in downtown, from the trees of Rice Park and beyond — 100,000 in total.

While the vacation tree will probably be disassembled in January, the opposite trees in Rice Park — and other winter lighting elements — stay aglow through with the assistance of one other partner, Xcel Energy.

The bulbs shine past even the St. Paul Winter Carnival, which wraps up in early Feburary.

“The lights often stay on through the boys hockey tournament in March,” Burns says.

The tree

The tree’s assembly began on Tuesday and can proceed with ending touches on Thursday.

The synthetic tree, purchased by the Salvation Army in 2022 with the assistance of personal donors, resembles a Fraser fir and features 25,000 lights.

“Our hope is that the annual ‘Tree of Lights’ event will proceed to construct a vacation tradition here within the Twin Cities, very like the red kettle, and affirm our commitment to celebrating the season of peace, hope and good will,” said Lt. Colonel Randall Polsley, Salvation Army Northern Division commander, in an announcement.

While the general public is accustomed to hearing in regards to the seek for live trees to chop right down to function holiday trees — that features the annual donated tree over at Union Depot in Lowertown — artificial trees are in demand as well.

In reality, as Fields Mitchell stood in Rice Park on Tuesday, watching employees in harnesses attach branches to the tree’s metal base, she declined to disclose the name of the corporate that sells the tree.

“I’ve got to let you know, it’s a hot commodity,” Fields Mitchell says of the tree.

Fields Mitchell did reveal that there are only “5 or 6” firms that sell large-scale artificial trees suitable for this type of event, or for business settings corresponding to shops or shopping malls, and that the synthetic trees are popular for each the fee savings and sustainability.

Identical to installing a live tree, though, a synthetic tree of such stature requires special equipment corresponding to articulating boom lifts, which the crew from metroConnections had readily available on Tuesday as they scaled the tree.

“It’s like putting together a skyscraper of Christmas trees,” said David Everett, senior sales manager and designer on the event planning company.

But this “skyscraper” also shared some similarities with a Christmas tree in a family home, with labeled cardboard boxes for tree parts (including “top”) and branches unfolded in little piles on the bottom, waiting to assemble.

The kettles

The lighting of the Salvation Army’s tree marks the beginning of bell-ringing season, when people ring bells as they stand by red kettles at store entrances and street corners to gather funds for the Salvation Army’s feeding and housing programs within the Twin Cities.

The red kettles are the cornerstone of the Salvation Army’s Christmas fundraising campaign, which has a goal of raising $11.3 million within the Twin Cities by Dec. 31. Funds raised through the Christmas season support food and shelter programs all year long.

This 12 months’s Red Kettle campaign will probably be kicked off by Col. Polsley, with the assistance of a $25,000 match provided by Cub stores. Because of this of the match, any gift made at Twin Cities kettles or online from Friday through Sunday will help twice as many individuals.

It’s especially needed at once: With rising prices for food, gas and utilities, the Salvation Army reports that demand for assistance stays historically high heading into the vacations.

Along with dropping coins or bills into kettles, people can gather around the vacation tree at Rice Park to ascertain out interactive charitable features, corresponding to scanning a QR code that may lead users to gift ideas they can buy through the Salvation Army’s website for a baby or family in need.

“It’s quite simple and straightforward and digitized,” Furry says.

There are also fun photo ops to check out across the tree, including posing in a carriage or inside a snow globe.

For getting involved beyond Friday, the Salvation Army reports that there are still hundreds of bell-ringer shifts needing to be filled; register at SalvationArmyNorth.org/kettle.

Rice Park Holiday Tree Lighting

• When: 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 10
• Where: Rice Park, 109 W. 4th St., downtown St. Paul
• What: A vacation tree lighting ceremony for the Salvation Army’s “Tree of Lights” — in addition to the lighting of the park’s other trees and more. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter will probably be readily available, in addition to local celebrities and Santa Claus. Free hot chocolate and cookies will probably be served.
• Admission: Free
• Parking: As a consequence of construction in downtown St. Paul, plan for extra travel time. Note: Free parking for the primary 200 vehicles will probably be provided within the Lawson Ramp at 11 fifth St. W. (tickets should be validated on the tent in Rice Park).
• Info: fb.me/e/18b4Lw5vR. Find more holiday events at growstpl.com.