Virtual Tree Lightning ceremony announced for Fort Wood

Fort Leonard Wood has announced the annual tree-lighting event will be held virtually this year, with audiences invited to view a live-stream of the ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday on the installation’s Facebook page at fortleonardwoodmissouri.

While Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation had originally planned to hold a scaled-back in-person event with social-distancing and masks, the decision was made today to switch to a virtual format due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Missouri.

The tree-lighting event will begin with an invocation, followed by music by the 399th Army Band and the announcement of the winners of this year’s Cards to the Community contest. Santa will make an appearance and read the holiday classic, “The Night Before Christmas.” A Fort Leonard Wood senior leader will then make brief remarks before activating the switch to illuminate the installation Christmas tree. Again you