Washington’s Lt. Governor, Brad Owen was on hand to flip the switch at this year’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting hosted by the Kristmas Town Kiwanis.  Owen was introduced by radio personality and local media mogul Dale Hubbard, who served as Master of Ceremonies.  Owen’s remarks before lighting the tree included reminiscences of how Shelton Washington came to be known as “Christmas Town USA” because of the number of Christmas trees shipped throughout the country which were grown in Mason County.  He even recalled an incident when going to visit his daughter in Hawaii when he had tried unsuccessfully to take a piece of home with him in the form of a Christmas tree, only to find that the trees for sale in the middle of the Pacific Ocean were tagged from “Shelton Washington” anyway.  Owen also spoke of his late brother, Cameron Owen, for whom the event is named.  Cameron Owen, he said, loved Christmas and was known to have worked tirelessly to turn Shelton’s downtown into Christmas town.  After the Lt. Governor had flipped the big switch, Hubbard returned and Elizabeth Berndt was introduced to lead the music program which included local elementary school choirs, The Creighton family violinists, and the Harstine Community Choir.  The crowd was asked to join in the singing.  Silent Night, was a multi-lingual affair including a brother and sister team performing with the choirs in American Sign Language.  The biggest ovation of all, though did not go to the Lt. Governor, DJ Dale, or even the multitude of talented musicians.  The crowd absolutely went into a frenzy as Shelton’s brave Firefighters lit up the night with lights and sirens.  But the excitement wasn’t for our uniformed local heroes, this time.  It was for their special passengers on the fire engine.  Santa and Mrs. Claus were greeted with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and were officially introduced to conclude the official ceremony.  Train rides for the kids, hot chocolate and cookies, and fun activities throughout the night continued with participation from the members of the Downtown Merchants Association staying open late to allow denizens to shop local for the holidays.