Holiday Tree Lighting: Bedford’s Stars Hollow Moment

December 11, 2018
Image (c) JMcCT, 2018 all rights reserved – Click to view larger image

By Brooke Shamon

If I am being honest, living in a small town like Bedford was never my favorite thing growing up.  Everyone knows who you are; everyone knows your business when you just want to get through the supermarket quickly and unnoticed.  However, after being introduced to The Gilmore Girls (Netflix TV) of fictional Stars Hollow, Connecticut I have begun to see how lucky I am to live in this small, quirky town.

Click this link for more images of the Town’s winter party

In the series, single mom Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) alongside her daughter, Rory (Alexis Biedel), are the heart and soul of the quaint town of Stars Hollow.  Rory was born when Lorelai was just sixteen and as the series opens Rory is now a teenager herself living with her young mother.  Lorelai came from a wealthy family and fled her too perfect life in Hartford ending up in the town which welcomed her with open arms.

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As the story unfolds viewers get a taste of what it takes for a single mom to raise a child in a happy, fun-loving home.  With all that life throws at the Gilmore girls there is not one episode where shared coffee is missed with iconic lines spoken quickly.  The community is constantly brought together at Luke’s Diner to celebrate not only traditional holidays but also special events coordinated by Mayor Taylor Dosey (Michael Winters).  It seems there is always plenty to celebrate and lots of friendly faces.

Standing at the Bedford Tree Lighting on December 1, I stopped and looked around.  There are millions (okay, maybe hundreds) of friendly faces about – people checking in with one another, saying hello, and enjoying being together to celebrate the holidays.  Hot chocolate provided by local businesses and plenty of places to sit inside and warm up if needed.  Santa Claus, brought in by fire truck, was ready and willing to have pictures taken along with a snowman (complete with snow machine) outside of Suzanne and Company on Great Road.

This year a timer on the front of First Parish Church had everyone counting down the seconds until the lights were turned on.  Gathered on the green we counted FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE!  Smiles and cheers filled the center of town and I felt at home.  The tree lighting is my favorite town celebration.

After a “home-cooked” meal at Ken’s Deli I wandered over to Old Town Hall with some friends and found live music and free food samples which included delicious sugar and gingerbread cookies, samples from Red Heat Tavern, and numerous other holiday treats throughout the Great Room.  Looking out around me on a night like this, I only hope to raise my own children someday in a town like Stars Hollow…which looks a lot like Bedford.

Brooke Shamon, Class of 2019

Brooke authored the first article in The Bedford Citizen’s new series, Voices @ Bedford High School. Click this link to read ‘Behind the Scenes of Applying to College’. Writing is a serious interest and Shamon commented that “I cannot see myself in a job that doesn’t involve writing.”  Her dream is to live and work in New York City, perhaps writing for a fashion magazine such as Cosmo.  She acknowledges achieving this dream will take a lot of work but she is eager “…to put in the work and time” to get there.  Shamon has lived in Bedford since 2006.

 

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