A special Christmas tree lighting was held on Sunday night in downtown Branson.
Many gathered to enjoy Christmas music—despite the unseasonably warm weather—prior to the official lighting of the tree, located next to Peddler Pete's Tradin' Post on Commercial Street. Motown Downtown provided fantastic music, as did Branson's Rick McEwen and special guest Jena Moulds, who was described as having "the voice of an angel" by members of the audience."
"The Historic Downtown Branson Community Improvement District are the ones that do the trolley and different improvements," explained Board member Cris Bohinc. "Our Board decided this year to put up this magnificent tree. Beth from Accents is the one who created it for us, and built it and designed it. Peddler Pete's is the one that allows us to use their property."
At 35-feet tall, the tree, known as the Branson Brilliance Tree –is an exquisite addition to downtown Branson.
"It has thousands of lights on it," said Beth Reid, of Accents. "It has meteor lights—those that are dripping down, which is something that no other tree in town has. Every snowflake has a little bit of something different on it, because snowflakes are like us—everybody’s different."
Previously, the downtown Branson tree has been located in nearby Liberty Plaza.
Gary Lloyd, owner of Peddler Pete's, explained the change in location. Said Lloyd, "Tom, who is my neighbor, who is the lawyer, asked if this lot was available to put the tree up, instead of in Liberty Plaza, and I said I would be thrilled to have it."
About his store, Lloyd added, "It's just a great variety store. We have a little bit of everything. Old, new, in between. The people that come in and visit with us tell us it's the best store in town. We hear that all the time."
Peddler Pete's is located at 121 South Commercial Street in downtown Branson. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
The Branson Brilliance Tree will remain a focal point of downtown Branson until after the first of January.