Spirits were bright as Santa arrived recently in downtown Greensboro.

The Community Christmas Tree was lit, officially kicking off the holiday season in Greensboro.

The large Leyland cypress tree that became Greensboro’s Christmas Tree was donated by Donna and Russ Hiter of Greensboro earlier this month. The Hiter’s young grandson, Dylan, officially flipped the switch, bringing light to the town tree as Greensboro’s Mayor, Glenn Wright, led the crowd gathered in a countdown to the big moment.

Area choirs provided live music for the evening as young and old took part in the singing of Christmas carols. Singers from Antioch Baptist Church, Second Baptist Praise Team, Christ Our King and Savior Catholic Church along with individuals from various other congregations in the community sang traditional carols in front of the Greene County Courthouse.

Downtown Greensboro is decorated for the season with large white lights lining the rooftops of the historic commercial buildings. Twinkling garland is wrapped around the street lamps, and the shops of downtown have their windows beautifully decorated for the season.

The second winner of the Greensboro Downtown Shopping Spree was drawn from a basket filled with entries. Local shoppers have been busy “Shopping Greensboro First” this holiday season to be entered into the drawing. This week’s winner was Liz Jackson of Greensboro. There will be another downtown shopping spree that will be drawn Friday, December 18. Drawings are held at 7 p.m. on the courthouse lawn, and participants must be present in order to win. Stop in at any downtown shop for additional details.

By far the most popular visitor to downtown Greensboro was none other than Santa Claus himself! Children lined up to visit Santa as he received guests in his workshop on North Main Street. Santa was accompanied by two of his elves and graciously took

Christmas lists and heard holiday wishes from both young and old. Santa shared that all is well in the North Pole.

After a visit to Santa, many kids and their families took a spin on the old-fashioned, tractor-pulled hay ride through the streets of downtown.

The downtown merchants will continue to be open for all of your holiday shopping needs until 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday evenings until Christmas. Be sure to check out the unique selection of clothing, handmade gifts, local art, special holiday items, and more that are available at the shops of downtown Greensboro.

For more information about the holidays in Greensboro, call the Better Hometown Office at (706) 453-7592 or by e-mail betterhometown@greeneccoc.org.