An Enchanted tree lighting at Worcester Square

After 56 years as a strictly local production taking place after sundown on the first Sunday of December, Worcester Square Area Neighborhood Association's annual Christmas Tree Lighting became part of the citywide Mayor's Enchanted Trolley Tour on Saturday, December 1.

About 250 guests of all ages started gathering in the square at 4:00 PM, greeting friends and listening to swinging renditions of Christmas musical favorites by the Yvonne Aubert Quartet. Among them were state senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (2nd Suffolk); District 2 city councilor Ed Flynn and his daughter, Caroline; district 3 city councilor Frank Baker; city councilors at large Annissa Essaibi George and Michelle Wu and South End/Bay Village liaison Faisa Sharif.

Around 4:30 PM, a police escort heralded the arrival of Mayor Martin J. Walsh and his retinue, which included Fast Freddy Murphy of MIX 104.1 FM, emcee for the event and Santa and Mrs. Claus, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the Nutcracker and a group of Toy Soldiers.

The toy soldiers Rudolph danced in the street, the mayor offered his greetings to neighbors, introduced Mr. And Mrs. Claus and announced the lighting of the tall, grand tree in the square. Once the tree was shining with multi-colored lights, Santa and Mrs. Claus invited children onto the trolley to tell Santa their Christmas wishes.

Elsewhere in the square, local eateries provided free food and beverages to warm the attendees. There were treats to satisfy all appetites including pizza slices from Café Quattro provided pizza, hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies from Blunch, chili from Mike's City Diner, plantain soup from Teranga, sandwiches from 7-Eleven and hot chocolate and coffee from Jaho.

Children and couples danced to the music. After the mayor and his entourage departed, WSANA president George Stergios and member Peter Zimmer drew the raffle. Prizes comprised a three-month family membership to the Huntington YMCA, a case of wine from Seiyo, tickets to the Duck Tour and the Museum of Science, gift certificates to Flour, six-week unlimited class to Barre 3 fitness studio and the grand prize, $500 cash.

The drawing, whose proceeds were not yet available at press time, will benefit future WSANA programming such as the summertime Music in the Square concert series, as well as a donation to a local charity that will be chosen by the membership.

Stergios seemed pleased with the Mayor's visit to the Worcester Square Tree Lighting, which has been an annual tradition for over 50 years. "We have asked the Mayor Menino and then Mayor Walsh to make an appearance at the Tree Lighting for many years, as long as I have been active in WSANA.

This year, before we even sent out an invitation, Faisa mentioned that the Mayor would like to include Worcester Square on his trolley tour. Why Worcester Square? Because we have the best damn tree lighting in the whole city, that is why," Stergios said. Change comes with a price: adding WSANA's tree lighting displaced longtime resident Greg Jackson, whose red-bespectacled Santa has listened to children's wish lists and handed out presents at the event for years. "Because of the Mayor's schedule, we had to move the event from Sunday to Saturday. Because the Mayor has his own Santa Claus, we had to lay off our own adorable Santa for this season. We did not want to confuse the kids."

Parking was banned on both sides of Worcester Square from 2:00-600 PM to accommodate the three trolleys that accompanied the Mayor and his retinue, which caused consternation some among residents of the area who complained on Facebook's South End Community Board that there was not sufficient notice for car owners.

Commenting on the event in a follow-up email, Stergios observed, "It was the first time the trolley tour stopped at Worcester Square, and while everything went smoothly, I think that we learned that there is no reason to have a parking ban on both sides of the square and that we can keep the band playing while Santa entertains the tots. I do not expect that the Mayor will come every year but I do hope that we can get in his regular rotation."

Bar Lyon, Estragon, Olympia Flour, Foodies, Teranga, Flour, Andres Cafe, and Equator all provide gift certificates.