Tree to light up historic D&R Canal

Kingston’s Garden Club and Historical Society to kick off the holiday season with annual tree lighting ceremony.

By: Joseph Harvie
   Break out the eggnog and kick out the holiday jams with members of the Kingston Garden Club and Kingston Historical Society this Sunday at the annual tree-lighting celebration.
   The event will begin at 3 p.m. with an open house at the Lock Tender’s House at the D&R Canal State Park just off Route 27 in Kingston followed by the tree lighting at 5 p.m., said Karen Linder of the Kingston Garden Club.
   The Garden Club will light up the 35- to 45-foot Norway spruce it decorated with white lights and the Crossroads North vocal ensemble will sing holiday songs during the celebration.
   The inside of the Lock Tender’s House will be decorated with evergreen branches and wreaths made by the Kingston Garden Club.
   "We cannot compete with the town next door. One of their trees down there has hundreds of thousands of lights. Ours is more of the ‘thought that counts’ sort of a lighting," Ms. Linder said of Princeton. "We like to maintain sort of a low profile, and since it is the canal, we like to maintain it in a natural state."
   Ms. Linder said the Lock Tender’s House used to be the home of the person in charge of the lock when the canal was active.
   The house now is being leased by the canal commission from the state. The Historical Society uses the building for events such as the tree lighting.
   "The Kingston Historical Society leases the house from the D&R Canal Commission and they use it for various Historical Society events in exchange for the upkeep of building," said Ms. Linder.
   Ms. Linder said she is hoping the weather is better than last year, when organizers were too tired from a day of shoveling snow to celebrate to the fullest.
   "Last year we had serious snow on that day. There was just an incredible amount of shoveling that needed to be done, so when it came time to celebrate we were a little pooped," Ms. Linder said. "We are hoping for better weather. A little dusting wouldn’t be bad, but we don’t need a foot."
   Ms. Linder said the event gives people from the Kingston village and from other parts of the area a chance to come together and ring in the holiday season.
   "Kingston residents primarily attend the event, but we do have fans of Kingston and residents from other towns and villages that come out and get together to talk and drink coffee and eat cookies and get a chance to catch up," said Ms. Linder.