A joyful thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate Piedmont Lights Up! on Dec. 4. A successful and memorable community event only happens with community involvement, and our beloved city really showed up last Wednesday, from babies to grandparents, all young at heart.
We can all be proud of the youth organizations that made the evening particularly special, starting with the PHS student-led Troubadours, who delivered a beautiful musical performance. PBF is grateful to Scouting America Pack 3 and Troop 1, as well as the Piedmont Community Service Crew and Girl Scout Troop 30713 and Brownie Troop 30981.
The large crowd was kept warm with hot cider courtesy of Dave Larson from Piedmont Grocery and Heafey Baum Group ensured the option of hot chocolate was complete with marshmallows and sprinkles. Laurie Schweitzer and Patty Siskind coordinated the lighting ceremony this year, keeping it efficient and family-friendly with an earlier start time of 6 p.m. Thank you to Sari Kaplan for kicking off the event by singing and playing her guitar, and Chabad of
Oakland for loaning the menorah and bringing delicious savory latkes. Piedmont owes the first night of light to Louis Rose, a recipient of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and his family for “flipping the switch” on the tree, the menorah, and the lights around the park.
And we can’t forget Santa and his elves for welcoming children of all ages throughout the evening. Especially impressive, and deserving a special thank you, was the commitment of the Public Works department (thank you Nick Millosovich) and Recreation Department (thank you, Chelle Putzer) and all employees of the city who came to make sure the event was magical for everyone.
Finally, many thanks to the members of the Piedmont Garden Club for helping with the lights on the tree, in particular, Sarah Abel and Terri Ashton. Deb Obendorf served as the liaison for Make-a-Wish, and of course, no Piedmont event is complete without our city leaders — thank you, Mayor Cavenaugh!
If you missed this wonderful Piedmont tradition, make sure you drive by the main park and see all the beautiful lights, and mark your calendar for next year – the first Wednesday in December.
Enjoy the holidays!
P.S. PS. Don’t forget to send a holiday greeting to your friends and neighbors by donating to PBF . Thank you for your support!