Though the temperature was already back down into the 20s, hundreds of people came to the heart of The Junction to celebrate tonight’s Hometown Holidays Tree Lighting. They heard warm words of West Seattle pride from Easy Street Records proprietor Matt Vaughan, who welcomed the crowd on behalf of the Junction Association, talking about the revitalization of The Junction and how the community has embraced it. He introduced first-time emcee Brent Amaker, known for his country band The Rodeo as well as for his West Seattle business hat (insurance agent) – below, Brent and Matt with Oliver Little, the logistics powerhouse behind big Junction events like this and Summer Fest:

Musical guests included the Endolyne Children’s Choir as well as Jay Cates and Mark Pickerel; the warmup performance was by the Chief Sealth International High School Marching Band:

(added) Here’s video of the event in its entirety, starting with Matt’s remarks:

(Still a couple video clips to add Sunday, including the Sealth band and the WSHS band, which performed nearby just before the lighting event.) Meanwhile, check out the Hometown Holidays schedule here – next big event, an Art Walk/Shop Late Thursday extravaganza this coming Thursday (December 12th).