A 70-year tradition shines on

THE Borough of Queenscliffe will celebrate the beginning of the festive season on Saturday (December 7) evening, with the annual lighting of the Point Lonsdale Christmas tree.

Up to 1,000 community members will come together at the Point Lonsdale Primary School Hall and outdoor stage in Bowen Road to mark the occasion, with festivities to begin at 7pm.

Community carols will then commence at 7.30pm, while the lighting of the tree is scheduled for 8.30pm.

Santa is also set to make an appearance.

Point Lonsdale Primary School principal and Christmas tree lighting committee member Fay Agterhuis said the Christmas lights were hung on November 16 in preparation for Saturday night’s event, and thanks to a more than $3,000 donation from the Queenscliff Point Lonsdale Lions Club, all 576 globes have been recently replaced.

“They’ve all been tested. We know that we’ll hit the button and barring a flock of corellas eating everything, everything is all systems go,” she said.

The tradition of lighting the borough’s 130-year-old, 45-metre-tall heritage-listed Norfolk pine spans more than 70 years, with a dedicated committee of volunteers taking up the challenge each year.

“It’s embedded deep in the community, so the community’s got this real connection to the tree,” Ms Agterhuis said.

“There’s been families upon families upon families who have taken on the duty of lighting the tree.”

Rain, hail or shine, Ms Agterhuis confirmed the event will go ahead this weekend and the Christmas tree lights will be switched on.

“If the weather does decide that it’s going to be horrible and wet, we’ll just flip from the outdoor stage to the indoor stage and then we’ll just have an indoor picnic celebration.”

She encouraged everyone to come along, help kick in the Christmas season and enjoy the community event.

“Families can just come, and locals and visitors can come, they can put down their picnic rug, they can sit, they can socialise. It’s a very safe, family event,” Ms Agterhuis said.

“Come as you are. You don’t have to get dressed up, you can just bring your picnic rug and have a picnic. You can buy a sausage, or you can just come and see the tree being lit.”

The event is proudly sponsored by the Borough of Queenscliffe, the Lions Club and Point Lonsdale Primary School.

A small number of local food vendors will be on site during the lighting, along with a sausage sizzle hosted by the Queenscliff Fire Brigade.

Parking during the tree lighting will be available in Bowen Road, with disabled parking available at Point Lonsdale Primary School.

The borough advises that Point Lonsdale Road between Lawrence and Bowen roads, and Grimes Road between Point Lonsdale and Nelson roads will be closed to traffic between 4.30pm and 9.30pm on Saturday for the event.

From Saturday, the tree will be lit each evening between 8.30pm and 3.30am until January 26.