Crews adorn Esther Short tree with 11,000 bulbs for Friday ceremony

Hanging in a basket stringing lights on the 100-foot tall tree in Esther Short Park — Nick Thomas said that’s when he starts to get into the Christmas spirit.

“Being in the branches when it’s dark and seeing all the lights … it makes you feel like a kid,” he said.

Thomas is part of a crew with St. Mary’s Services of Vancouver that worked to hang more than 11,000 LED lights on the city’s community tree in the park Wednesday morning.

The work was ahead of the Community Tree Lighting planned for Friday.

The event, part of the Vancouver Rotary Foundation Festival of Trees, begins at 5:15 p.m. with music by Touch of Class Chorale. Santa will flip the switch at 6 p.m. Following the lighting ceremony, the Vancouver Pops Orchestra will hold a concert at the Hilton Vancouver Washington.

The St. Mary’s crew normally cleans windows, but around the holidays they also take jobs hanging Christmas lights. The crew said that they like decorating the tree in Esther Short Park because it’s something enjoyed by everyone.

“It’s like a centerpiece,” Thomas said.

The crew plays Christmas music while they pass lights back and forth between two boom lifts. They said it’s fun to go to the tree lighting ceremony and see families enjoy their work.

“It’s fun to see it done and all lit up,” said Austen Radmall. “It’s cool to be behind something that brings people out and about in the community.”