Silver Bells in the City Kicks off the Holiday

By: Deema Tarazi and Kaitlyn Stephens

Traveling to downtown Lansing on a crowded bus with no available seats sounds like an interesting way to start a Friday night. On the evening of the Nov. 20, downtown Lansing had the 25th annual Silver Bells in the City celebration with the lighting of the Christmas tree in front of the capitol building.

Even though the bus ride was crowded, the atmosphere made up for it. The inside of the buses were decorated and the bus drivers blasted Christmas music to lift the spirits of college students. It was convenient that the bus ride to and from Lansing was free. In the bus, we could tell people were excited to be on their way to a fun night.

Before the lighting took place, a colorful parade of lights traveled down Washington Avenue. This parade included many floats, all covered in decorative Christmas lights, and marching bands performing Christmas tunes. With all of the excitement in the air, people in the parade were waving and shouting “Happy Holidays!” to the many locals watching the parade go by.

When the parade finished, many people rushed over to the capitol building to wait in anticipation for the lighting of the tree and the big firework display. We tried to rush through the crowd to get a good spot, but ended up in a mosh pit of people eagerly waiting for the show to begin.

We heard a big boom, and the fireworks began. While not as long as a July 4 display, the fireworks were nevertheless exciting and colorful.

“I liked all the different activities and the light parade. I felt it was a good way to bring the community together,” Katharine Macpherson, a freshman and a first timer at the festivities said.

The many activities if the evening included: self-guided tours of the capitol, face painting, free cookies, live reindeer, free horse drawn carriage rides, a bag pipe concert and the science center was open with slime making. There were activities for those of all ages. This night was very family-friendly.

The celebration brought out a lot of the local community as well as students from Michigan State University and Lansing Community College. This event was a great way for the community to kick off another Christmas season filled with cheer and unity. Just walking down the street, people were recognizing each other from class or from their hometowns.

Another freshman, Aly Prussing, had a different view.

“It was okay and the tree lighting was fun, but kind of disappointing compared to others I have seen. It was kind of uneventful,” Prussing said.

The downside of the celebration was that it was so crowded. It was a hassle to wait in line, let alone the walk to get in line. The fireworks were not as extravagant as they could have been, but we need to remember that the economy is not as good as it use to be.

Even with these downsides, Silver Bells in the City was a success. It brought college students out of their dorm rooms and families out of their living rooms to come together as a community.