Lighting of the Green lights up campus with Amy Grant, Brenda Lee and 35-foot tree

 

Lighting of the Green 2009 was full of “the new old-fashioned way” on Tuesday night, as a record crowd turned out to see the annual outdoor concert hosted by Amy Grant.

 

This year the concert featured six performers including famed ‘50s and ‘60s singing star Brenda Lee, who sang the song she made famous, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”

 

The entire event was full of first-time old-fashioned touches, including Lipscomb’s Department of Theater students dressed in costumes reminiscent of colonial Williamsburg and serving hot chocolate and cookies through the windows of a Williamsburg-style cityscape.

 

Other new activities included a booth for children to write letters to Santa, a new snowy scene at the Santa photo booth including an antique sleigh, a roaring fire out on the mall and luminaries lit in Bison square.

 

The concert featured two other performers singing the Christmas songs they made popular: Amy Grant singing “Tennessee Christmas” and singer/songwriter Buddy Greene singing “Mary Did You Know.”

 

The performance also included touching performances by Guy Penrod, a former member of the Gaither Vocal Band; Sterling Gittins, a local Christian artist; and the Annie Moses Band, a classical ensemble who performed unique contemporary arrangements of Christmas tunes.

 

In the Lighting of the Green tradition, the concert was completed by the lighting of a 35-foot spruce in the Allen Arena Mall.

 

Lipscomb would like to thank this year’s Lighting of the Green sponsors: C. O. Christian & Sons, NewsChannel 5, CAT Rental Store, NHC, the Mall at Green Hills, Bacon Construction Company, Care-Here, Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management, Constant Craving Caterers, Data Supplies, Inc., and Lipscomb Dining Services.