West Columbia lights up its Christmas tree, and it’s taking your letters to Santa

The city of West Columbia is ringing in the holiday season Friday with the annual lighting of the city Christmas tree.

The tree will light up at 6:30 p.m. at West Columbia City Hall, 200 N. 12th St.

The lighting will be marked by elementary school students reading the winning entries of the “What Christmas Means to Me” contest. A winning piece of student artwork will also grace the cover of the program, while the top three art entries will also be featured on the city’s Art on State wall on the corner of State and Meeting streets.

The ceremony will also feature musical selections by students from Busbee Creative Arts Academy and East Point Academy, as well as a reading from Mrs. Claus.

West Columbia has also set up a special mailbox for letters to Santa in Carraway Park, 212 Hudson St. Letters posted to the North Pole by Dec. 15 will get a personal response from the big man. The mailbox will stay in place until Christmas Eve, but Santa may be too busy to respond to letters posted after Dec. 15 before the big day itself.