Citizens of Peachtree City:

First, I want to thank all of you who came to Christmas At the Fred, part of Peachtree City’s Hometown Holiday event on Saturday evening. The 1,000-plus attendees really seemed to have a great time and that is what we, the organizers of the event, had hoped for.

What we could not see coming was the maelstrom of controversy that has developed. As a part of the planning team for the second year, I can personally attest that at no point during the 12 months of planning for this event was political correctness a concern of anyone in the room.

We were, however, attempting to create a Christmas event for the whole family on par with the city’s Fourth of July celebrations. In my opinion, we succeeded.

Last year, when The Avenue notified city leaders that they no longer wanted to host the city’s Christmas tree lighting (which was called “The Lighting of the Peace Tree”), I was asked to produce a Christmas program for the city.

As the director of worship programming at Dogwood Church, I have been a part of creative planning for church and community events for over 10 years and I was very excited at the opportunity.

One of our church members suggested the name “Christmas At The Fred,” and everyone on the planning team loved it. As we were planning this year’s events, we wanted to build on this name and make it bigger and better.

The event morphed into four events and needed to have a new name with “Christmas At The Fred” as the name for the concert at the amphitheater.

We decided that we liked the ring of “Hometown Holiday” for the overall event name and “The Trail of Lights” for the path to City Hall, so I began searching for a creative name for the Christmas tree lighting.

I knew that the city was going to invest in a large, live tree that would be used for years to come. When I suggested “The Lighting of the Grand Tree,” it stuck.

At no time was the issue of political correctness a part of the name decision.

In fact, I agree with those who are frustrated with the political correctness that has stripped much of the meaning from Christmas and placed city, state and national government leaders in a very awkward position. They feel pressure to represent every religion or none at all in holiday displays.

It may appear that the word “Grand” was intentionally substituted for “Christmas,” but that is simply not the case. Christmas and Christianity were all over Peachtree City’s Hometown Holiday.

Let me share just a few instances from the night in case you missed it:

• On the posters and flyers (which I personally designed): “Christmas At the Fred”;

• There was a silent auction where “fully lit and decorated Christmas trees” would be auctioned to raise money for victims of the hurricanes

• Attendees were asked to bring non-perishable food items for the “Real Life Center” (a faith based ministry to under-resourced people in Fayette and surrounding counties).

• At the concert, “Christmas At The Fred” these songs were sung: “Christmas Means to Me,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” “The Christmas Song,” “Don’t Save It All For Christmas Day.” Yes, those are “secular songs,” but also sung were these Christian songs: “O Happy Day” (…Jesus Christ was born on Christmas day…), “Joy to the Word,” “The Angels Medley” (a medley of traditional Christmas carols), “Let There Be Peace On Earth,” and even the “Hallelujah Chorus.” No political correctness here.

In retrospect, had I known that such a fury was going to be made over the name of the tree, maybe I would have suggested “The Lighting of the Grand Christmas Tree.” Hindsight is 20/20.

The saddest part to me is that from now on and for years to come, instead of being able to enjoy the city’s Christmas events, people will remember this controversy. The name of the Christmas tree lighting will become a joke as people wonder whether the city will change the name or leave it the same. What a shame!

I still believe that for most of the citizens of Peachtree City, the event was a success and I would count it an honor to be a part of planning next year’s Christmas event for Peachtree City.

Kevin L. Haglund
Producer, “Christmas At the Fred”
Director of Worship Programming
Dogwood Church (formerly Braelinn Baptist in Peachtree City)
Tyrone, Ga.