Groves tree lighting scheduled for Thursday

Published 11:03 am Wednesday, November 28, 2018

GROVES — High school football is a big deal in this part of Southeast Texas so it’s not out of the ordinary to move an annual celebration up a day so as not to clash with playoffs.

The Port Neches-Groves Indians are headed to the 5A Division II Region III semifinals Friday night at Stallworth Stadium in Baytown, which led the Groves Beautification Committee to move its annual City of Groves Tee Lighting to 6 p.m. Thursday at Celebration Park.

The park, located at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Coolidge Boulevard, will be decked out in lights and the Groves Elementary School Choir fifth-graders will provide the musical entertainment, GBC official Marty Godwin said.

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The seasonal good cheer will extend to the main portion of the night — the lighting of the 20-foot tall balsam fir tree that shipped in from Wisconsin and arrived on Thanksgiving Day.

Mayor Brad Bailey will flip the switch, lighting the tree.

There are a few changes to the annual event: The Brass Ensemble will not perform as they have in past years and there will be no live nativity scene.

But there will be plenty of opportunities to get a picture with Santa, organizers say, so bring your cameras.