Community invited to hear Amy Grant, visit Santa at Lighting of the Green Tuesday

Janel Shoun | 

Lipscomb University’s very own Christmas present to the community, Lighting of the Green, will be even better this year as Nashville’s own songbird Amy Grant is joined by Pat Flynn and Buddy Greene for a “Christmas Jam.”

Grant
Flynn

Greene
The university invites the community to kick-off the holiday season Tuesday, Nov. 27, beginning at 4:30 p.m. at the university’s Allen Bell Tower, just outside Allen Arena on the Green Hills campus.

The event is free and everyone is invited to bring a lawn chair or blanket and enjoy food from Chick-Fil-A and Blue Coast Burrito, free photos with Santa Claus and the lighting of Lipscomb’s Christmas tree. The concert will begin at 5:30 p.m.

The community is also asked to bring a jar of peanut butter to the “Christmas Jam” to donate to the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Lelan Statom, WTVF meteorologist, will serve as master of ceremonies, and Grant and friends will be performing with the David Lipscomb Campus School chorus and Lipscomb University choral ensembles, incorporating hundreds of voices from elementary school- through college-age.

In addition to the Grammy-winning Grant, Lighting of the Green’s “Christmas Jam” will feature Pat Flynn, the former guitarist and singer for progressive bluegrass group New Grass Revival in the 1980s. Flynn performed with Bela Fleck in the band that helped pave the way for today’s brand of bluegrass artist such as Allison Krauss and Nickel Creek.

Buddy Greene, also a guitar pickin’ singer/songwriter, is known as one of Nashville’s best harmonica musicians. He co-wrote the contemporary Christmas standard “Mary Did You Know?” and has most recently brought an acoustic guitar and folk, string band approach to many traditional hymns on his CD “Hymns and Prayer Songs.”

Due to the continuing construction of the A.M. Burton Building, the Lighting of the Green will not be held on The Quad as it has for the past two years. This year it will be held surrounding the bell tower outside of Allen Arena. Handicapped parking will be available in the Allen Arena parking garage. In case of inclement weather, the celebration will be held in Allen Arena.