Christmas with Seattlest: Fircrest Lights Its Tree

Fircrest, Washington, is a bedroom community of Tacoma that's just a little bit bigger than Central Park. It was developed in the twenties by Edward Bowes, who later gained national fame as the host of Major Bowes' Amateur Hour, a radio forerunner of American Idol (Frank Sinatra's career took off after he won).

Sunday was the first time we'd ever been to Fircrest.

Sunday was the first time we'd ever heard of Fircrest.

We went for a party and for the community's 82nd annual tree lighting, which was dedicated to "Fircrest's children," who, an amplified voice told us, are "tomorrow's future." A short, unobtrusive prayer preceded the big event. A flip switched, and those of us who'd huddled in the cold (including three be-sweatered dogs) had our reward: a 60-foot high pine brightened by a string of lights. Then Santa came down the hill in a truck.

Drawing by Megan Myers