Mayor's Christmas Tree

My husband was crazy about holidays and we observed every one. We even loved Arbor Day. Had a special cake for dessert that day. He had a good friend, Jerry Cohen, who was involved in many things to improve Kansas City. One of his favorites was the Mayor's Christmas Tree. People bought chances on a car and the money went to different charities in Kansas City. At first the winner got a car but they found people would not accept it for it made their taxes too high. They changed to a rental car for a year. Every year on the day after Thanksgiving we went to Crown Center early and got ready. The tree was there with all the lights and decorations. There were big wooden toys for children to climb on and sometimes if you were lucky they handed out candy treats. The Boy Scouts handed out candles to everyone and people could ice skate. The children ran around through the area which was fountains in the summer. The next day I would drive the two of them around while they delivered some of the stuff. One year Jerry's nephew won and they were in a state as to what to do. Ray argued he should have the car. Sometimes I sold chances. They did not draw the winner until the next morning. When it rained we had the ceremony anyway. That is when I really liked to sell tickets inside Crown Center. The choir was made up of people all over Kansas City. Some celebrity--a football player a radio star, etc.-- turned the lights on.