WILSON, N.C. — November 25, 2024 — As Barton College prepares to usher in this year’s annual Season of Light, students will crisscross campus walkways with luminaries, a towering Christmas tree will be dressed in twinkling lights, and familiar Christmas readings and memory-stirring melodies will be rehearsed for one magical night of light on campus.
Barton College invites the greater Wilson community to join the campus community for the much-anticipated 2024 Lighting of the Luminaries on Tuesday, Dec. 3. Following the annual Blessing and Lighting of the Christmas Tree, there will be an Evening of Lessons and Carols to usher participants into the Christmas season.
AVI Fresh will host a special Christmas dinner with all the trimmings in the Culinary Center on the upper level in Hamlin Student Center prior to the program on center campus. The cost is $10 person for community members who would like to join the students for dinner. The Culinary Center will open at 4:30 p.m.
Beginning at 6 p.m., the campus and surrounding Wilson communities will come together to begin the festive celebration with the annual Blessing and Lighting of the Christmas Tree. With approximately 2,300 luminaries lining 32 acres of the main campus, students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, friends of the College, and community members will gather in front of the Aileen and Bill Parish Plaza (outside Howard Chapel) for the outdoor program. There will be brief remarks by Chaplain Alysun Skinner and Barton College President Douglas N. Searcy.
Immediately following the Blessing and Lighting of the Christmas Tree, there will be “An Evening of Lessons and Carols” in Howard Chapel. The chapel service will feature the Barton College Choir led by Sherry Lee Allen, choir conductor, director of theatre, and artist-in-residence for musical theatre. Musical selections will be interspersed with readings of scripture by members of the Barton community.
This promises to be a special event to open the 2024 Christmas season on Barton’s campus and in the Wilson community.
For additional information about the Blessing and Lighting of the Christmas Tree or An Evening of Lessons and Carols, please contact Chaplain Alysun Skinner at alskinner@barton.edu or 252-399-6372 or Sherry Lee Allen at slallen@barton.edu or 252-399-6492, respectively.
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