CSB Christmas tree-lighting kicks off holiday season

by Frank Lee

operations@thenewsleaders.com

Teresa Ning didn’t experience many white Christmases while living in California, but the College of Benedict student was expecting a little more snow when she moved to St. Joseph.

The first-year student from La Habra Heights is majoring in global business and communications but took time out of her studies to help with the holiday festivities on campus Nov. 29.

“It’s a little chilly outside, but it’s OK,” Ning said as she lined up a hundred or so mason jars filled with chocolate powder inside the warm Haehn Campus Center along College Avenue.

Ning didn’t get to see much snow during the tree-lighting ceremony at St. Ben’s on Nov. 29 as temperatures in the high 30s had melted the snow that blanketed the area earlier this month.

The outdoor Christmas tree-lighting at St. Ben’s was held between the center and the Benedicta Arts Center Nov. 29 and was put on by the Student Activities and Leadership Development.

“We put it on every single year – most of the behind-the-scenes stuff you don’t see, like the reception, the pathway (on campus) that’s lit,” Ning said of SALD’s involvement. “And we do the marketing for ‘Christmas at St. Ben’s.’”

The long-standing tradition on campus, which was followed with a small reception, was billed by organizers as “a great way for fellow Bennies and Johnnies to join together during the holidays.”

“It’s so magical outside,” said Ning, who works as a graphic designer and videographer for the Student Activities and Leadership Development. “I’m from southern California, so if you really want to see snow, you either go up north or you go to the mountains.”

The drizzle and cold, however, didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd that had gathered at the evening ceremony and held battery-powered candles to illuminate the night.

The CSB Women’s Choir performed seasonal selections, such as “Silent Night,” before CSB President Mary Dana Hinton delivered a short speech prior to lighting the locally-donated tree.

“I have to tell you there is no more beautiful sight than when we all come together as one St. Ben’s community,” Hinton told the crowd before the tree was lit with a light switch prop.

The Christmas tree was eventually lit by Hinton and three CSB students simultaneously – representing the student body – who gathered by the tree adorned with 7,500 lights.

“Together, we embody the hope for tomorrow and the promise of a bright future, which Christmas represents,” Hinton told those assembled who were trying to keep warm. “Together, we can create the peace that the season proclaims and the joy the season delivers.”

Hinton also said from the podium in front of the Christmas tree that she was honored to help light the tree on behalf of the 1,936 students at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph.

“We light it in honor of your hopes and dreams,” Hinton said. “May each one shine brightly in the darkness. In honor of your tears and your fears, may the light illuminate your pathway forward . . . Continue to be a beacon of light for those near and far, friend and strangers.”

The public was invited to the tree-lighting ceremony, which was a joyous gathering of faculty, staff, students and members of the monastic community in a luminous celebration of the beginning of the Christmas season.

“When you go outside and it’s really chilly, and you see your breath frost the air and hear the music outside, you really, really kind of feel welcomed, and you feel happy,” Ning said. “This is what I imagined what a real white Christmas will begin to feel like.”