December 3, 2025 - The Center square before the Historic Shelby County Courthouse was full of Christmas spirit Tuesday, December 2, 2025, as residents and visitors gathered for the 2nd Annual Community Christmas Tree Lighting.
The town square echoed with Christmas carols performed by the First Methodist Church Choir who were also accompanied by the jack-of-all-trades himself, Chris Watlington, as emcee and pianist.
Refreshments were available for those in attendance to help warm the chill of the night air before the highly anticipated event.
The historic courthouse was open for everyone to come in out of the cold as well as explore the 1885 Irish style castle. Docents of the courthouse, the William Carroll Crawford Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, welcomed all and served delicious cookies to the many who took advantage of the experience. Little children and many young-at-heart adults placed ornaments on the main Christmas tree located in the Gibson room.
Once the choir had imbued the audience with a sense of holiday spirit, it was time for the lighting of the 20-foot Community Christmas tree. Receiving the honor of pushing the button and lighting the tree were the Farmers State Bank tellers. Together, as the audience counted down from 10, the tellers pushed the magic tree lighting button and the crowd exploded into cheers as the area lit up!
Everyone attending enjoyed viewing the many new decorations added to the downtown square including a horse carousel, a family of reindeer, and a Hallmark Card frame for photos sponsored by none other than Hallmark.
