Three . . . two. . . one. . . holiday lights!
To kick off the holiday season, nearly 250 people of all ages gathered for the tree lighting ceremony at Queens Center Mall on November 19.
“This is the 8th annual tree lighting event. It doesn’t take too long to plan this event, but each year we try to create a fresh approach to make it more interesting and exciting,” said Dawn Simon, senior marketing manager at Queens Center Mall.
Guests who made an appearance were Senator Jose Peralta, Councilmember Daniel Dromm, Melva Miller, director of Economic Development from the borough president’s office, and of course, Santa Claus.
Throughout the event, both children and adults were dancing to the DJ’s music.
“In order to put the event together, we make sure that every ‘I’ is dotted. We want our retailers and people in the community to have an awesome experience,” said Simon.
Santa Claus helped the guests countdown from 10 to light up the 40-foot-tall tree.
“This is my first time attending the event. I randomly came to the mall to do some shopping, but I have to say it’s pretty nice; I like the music,” said local shopper Mariam Faqiri.
Another shopper, Sarah Ghafoori from Whitestone, said, “I look forward to the holiday season because everyone gets together and just enjoys each other’s company.”
