Castro Courier



	San Francisco, California December 2009

Christmas Comes to Castro with Ceremony

The annual tree lighting ceremony held at the corner of 18th and Castro streets on Nov. 30 featured song and holiday cheer. This year Bug Realty sent two VW bugs with Santa (Rich Maxwell), and his elf, Zimmer, to make their entrance during the festivities. (photo: Bill Sywak)

By Andy Sywak

The holidays arrived in style at the Nov. 30 tree lighting ceremony held at the corner of 18th and Castro streets. Sponsored by the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro (MUMC), around 200 revelers turned out to hear holiday-themed performances from the SF Gay Men’s Chorus, the Metropolitan Community Church Choir and other artists.

The program included MC Donna Sachet, whom MUMC President Steve Adams introduced as the "first lady of the Castro." State Senator Mark Leno issued a proclamation from the California Senate encouraging the crowd to combat the recession by shopping, eating out and doing business locally. Sister Mabel Syrup of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence gave in an invocation "in the blessed name of Saint Harvey Milk" to bless the tree and lead the crowd in a chant of "We are community, we are one." She later proclaimed, "We hope one day we won't have to fight for our rights."

Matthew Byrne, 23, just moved to the Castro from Baltimore two weeks ago and happened to be passing by the ceremony. "This is a great way of keeping a healthy vibe in the neighborhood, making things lively over the holidays and encouraging people to shop at small neighborhood businesses," Byrne said. Commenting on the strong police presence at this year's ceremony, he said, "It's beautiful to have the police authority actually help [the community]."

Although this may be year two of the Great Recession, there is no shortage of holiday cheer and decorations in the neighborhood. Bright red bows adorn the palm trees along the Market Street meridian from Octavia Boulevard to Castro Street. Christmas displays fill shop windows and many homes have already adorned their front porches and yards with red-and-green lights.

And as always, the SF Gay Men’s Chorus 20th annual “Home for the Holidays” concert will be held Christmas Eve at the Castro Theatre. There are three performances at 5, 7 and 9 p.m.

Hard times may be here, but in the Castro, unique traditions persist.