South Carolinian audiences young and old welcomed the holidays Monday night at the 49th Annual Governor’s Carolighting with festive musical performances, Santa visits, and the lighting of a colorful 35-foot Christmas tree.
The event boasted a lineup of several notable South Carolinian guests, including the Carolighting Children’s Choir, Emanuel AME Choir (a choir group from the church involved in the tragic Charleston massacre), Hallelujah Singers, Southern Bronze Handbell Ensemble, and Governor Nikki Haley herself.
Although it’s an age-old Columbia tradition, the Carolighting has not lost its holiday appeal and has attracted many first-time visitors this year. Elderly couples, families with small children,and students alike were all watching as the rainbow lights blazed on in front of the Statehouse.
“It’s my first time at the tree lighting,” Melissa Pacifico, a fourth-year international studies student at USC and event volunteer, said. “I volunteer a lot around Columbia and at home as well, but this is the first time I’m here in Columbia at the tree lighting ... I’m most excited about all the different music.”
Not all audiences were new to the tree lighting, however. Bruce Crouch of Thoughtful Productions has been working the sound at the event for 10 years and is a pro at pulling off the extravaganza smoothly.
“My favorite part during the show is probably the children’s choir,” Crouch said. “We have neither [a rehearsal at the Statehouse or with the choirs] before the lighting. We just walk up and go. We do a little bit of a sound check, and we’ll catch just a minute or two of each group as they get here.”
Governor Nikki Haley finished the program and began the countdown to the tree-lighting with an encouraging and poignant speech that honored South Carolina and the challenges the state has faced in the past year. Haley paid homage and respects to Walter Scott, the Emanuel Nine and the damage done by the thousand-year flood. She ended her speech with a plea for South Carolinians to join her donating to the One South Carolina Fund to repair flood damage across the state.
“Let’s show that, while we’ve had a tough year, we’ve got a lot of giving we could do, we’ve got a lot of love we could do, we’ve got a lot of compassion in us,” Haley said. “Because we have proved to the entire country and the world what goodness looks like.”