FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Mayor Bob Stephens, with help from local elementary school students, will signal the start of the holiday season by lighting a 33-foot Norway spruce, located in Jordan Valley Park, east of the Mediacom Ice Park at the annual Mayor’s Tree Lighting Ceremony at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. The musical tree and surrounding park will be lit up with thousands of lights. Hundreds of children are expected to attend the tree-lighting ceremony, which will include live music, a visit from Santa Claus and other celebrity guests, including everyone’s favorite winter princesses. Santa’s mailbox (a decked-out mailbox provided by the U.S. Postal Service) returns, on-site Saturday night only, for children to send their letters to Santa. Mediacom Ice Park, located at 635 E. Trafficway, will again offer free ice skating, 5:45-6:45 p.m. that evening. Skate rental is $2.50. Free parking is available at Mediacom Ice Park and Hammons Field. Convenient parking is also available for a fee at the Jordan Valley Car Park on Trafficway. # # # For more information, contact: Cora Scott, Director of Public Information & Civic Engagement, 417-864-1009 (office) | 417-380-3352 (cell), [email protected]