Bay City's Annual Tree Lighting

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By Bixyl Shuftan

On Sunday December 5, Bay City held it's annual Tree Lighting party. 

The event was held in the North Channel sim from 1 to 4 PM. 

Part of the event was the charity auction, also known as the silent auction. Various items from vehicles to gift cards were up for bid.

The money raised went to the Child's Play charity, which helps children in their stays at hospitals with games and gaming equipment. 

The main event was the music and dance party just in front of the stage.  

GoSpeed Rasere (GoSpeed Racer) was the DJ for the first part of the event, playing classics like "I'll Be Home For Christmas," by Frank Sinatra, "Christmas Time Is Here," "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch," twists on classics such as "Over The River And Through The Woods" by The Chipmunks and "Twelve Days Of Chirstmas" by John Denver and the Muppets, and modern tunes such as the parody "Toy Sack" by Bob Rivers.

Marianne McCann, Bay City's best known citizen, was there, wearing clip-on reindeer antlers.

Marianne would bring up some of the things in the silent auction, "I want to once again talk about some of the items today. First, there is a Bay City parcel on the auction block. It's in a lovely part of Falconmoon, and well worth considering for those who wish to join Bay City, or want a new parcel. You'll also find your choice of GenusProject mesh head next ot it ,as well as a full eBooy library from R. Jacques. Those will be usable on your e-book reader of choice."

Someone went, "Shhh about that Genus head Mari," grinning. Mari responded, "Oh, was not not supposed to mention the GenusProject head? Cuz that looks like a heck of a deal. ... Oh, sorry. Right." She went on, "There's a lot of great cars, boarts, and planes available. ... Lusch Motors, if you didn't see, is a two-for-one prize. a car for you, and a car to give to a friend. We'll leave it up to you to put a big, floppy red bow on it for the holidays."

Pygar Bu dances along next to someone who was "bearly" moving along.

At one point, a conga line formed.

And over time, more people hopped on it.

At 2PM, GoSpeed would close with "WKRP In Cincinnati Closing Credits." And then the first of the live musicians, Tamrya Haden (Tamrya Sands) went up on stage. 

There was various chatter, including some discussions about Christmas songs, "Amusingly, partridges (chukars) would usually nest on the ground, not in trees." "Maybe that's why it being in a pear tree is such a big thing."

There was a little joking around about the silent auction, "Sorry DeeDee, I can't let you outbid me. My kids will never let me hear the end of it." Marai went, "You'll find some really lovely art from Elan (Ineffable Mote), but again, stop bidding on the one I want." GoSpeed commented, "Bid on my books! They were inspired by Second Life, especially Bay City and E-Bar."

Other things to do included skating, but while I was there, I didn't see anyone at the rink. I wasn't there long enough to see the actual tree lighting.

In past years, April Linden would often show up. But as she retired this year, sadly she no longer appears.

At 2:28, Mari announced, "With a donation of 2500, we are over last year!" So besides people having fun, the party was also a success in raising money for Childs Play.

After an hour and a half longer, the party would end. But this isn't the last of the fun for the month. On Friday December 31 is the New Year's Eve bash, in which people say goodbye to 2021 and hello to the new year 2022.

Bixyl Shuftan