CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – After the last couple of years of relative darkness, the North Garden Christmas Tree Lighting and Caroling Celebration returns for the season Saturday evening at a new location.

North Garden Volunteer Fire Company Chief George Stephens told Cville Right Now they are the new hosts of what had been an annual tradition for about a decade before it went dark a couple of years ago.

The event returns Saturday at 5 p.m. at the fire company’s Cutright’s Lake facility along Route 29 and Red Hill Road.

“Werner Hambsch at the Crossroads complex started that years ago and it was well-received, and he approached us to see if we wanted to start hosting it at our lake in North Garden,’ Chief Stephens said.

Hambsch was the first Crossroads owner but has since sold the property, and Stephens said the new ownership had shown no interest in keeping the tree lighting going there.

To help prompt this renewal, Loving Cup Winery, which is owned by Werner Hambsch’s son, Karl Hambsch, had a tree removed from that property and planted at Cutright’s Lake.

“It’s a 25-foot spruce,” Stephens said, “And literally (Loving Cup) pulled that sucker right out of the ground and planted it there. Next year, it will be about 26- or 27-feet tall.”

Chief Stephens said it will be a fun evening of music and fellowship leading up to lighting the tree, and there’s a special guest arriving from the North Pole.

“Whether you’re a North Garden resident, a Covesville resident, a southside of Charlottesville resident, or anywhere in the area, we would love to have you and join us,’ Chief Stephens said. “It’s truly a holiday time to get together and enjoy the fellowship of being together.”