Here it is Christmastime already!  Abigail is a member of the Appalachian Children’s Chorus and they were invited to sing at the lighting of the official WV Christmas tree!  Two large high school bands filled the steps of the WV Capitol building and played back and forth a number of…patriotic songs.  Not really a Christmas song in the entire bunch.  Although I didn’t get much Christmas spirit from their music, they were quite good and a lot of fun to hear.

Herschel “Woody” Williams, a proud West Virginian and the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from  the Battle of Iwo Jima led the Pledge of Allegiance.  Abigail and her group sang a Christmas song or two and the Governor and First Lady lit the official tree.

The tree itself is nice and the ceremony was cool and all that but what sort of surprised me the most is how accessible the Governor and his wife were during the whole celebration.  Along with many people, I walked right up to him to wish him a Merry Christmas.  He posed for many pictures and kissed a few babies (literally).  I don’t figure every state could pull this off, but I was sort of proud that here in WV, we really are like one great big small town.  Sure, there were a pair of fairly large state troopers standing nearby, but they shook hands and kissed a baby or two as well.

So, I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but in my small town of WV, we are now officially in the Christmas spirit!