New decorations at Adrian's Comstock Christmas Riverwalk pay tribute to lives lost this year

ADRIAN — Just as the switch was flipped Monday evening lighting Lenawee County’s Community Christmas tree on the grounds of the old Lenawee County Courthouse in Adrian, so too will be a switch — or in this case — multiple switches be flipped tonight when the city of Adrian illuminates Comstock Park as part of the 10th annual Comstock Christmas Riverwalk celebration.

The holiday event, which has become one of Adrian’s and Lenawee County’s best attended and cherished highlights of the Christmas season, will start sometime around 7:30 p.m. today or whenever the Adrian Holiday Lights Parade concludes. The parade starts at 7 p.m. and winds through downtown Adrian before funneling into and around Comstock Park.

The parade route will head from West Maple Avenue to North Winter Street, left on Winter Street to Front Street, left on Front Street to North Broad Street, right on Broad Street to East Maumee Street, right on Maumee Street and concluding at Comstock Park.

Nearly 600 Christmas trees that have been purchased by Lenawee County families, individuals, organizations and businesses are in place and decorated for the holidays at Comstock Park. Along with a handful of other holiday adornments, the park on the western edge of downtown Adrian will be lit for the holidays this evening. The lighted display will remain lit for people to enjoy through the first couple of days in January.

More: Planning for Comstock Christmas Riverwalk in Adrian underway

“This has really been a special year,” Comstock Christmas Riverwalk organizer Jim Berryman, a former Adrian mayor, said. “We sold more trees than we ever have,” he said, adding that he needed to order the trees for the Riverwalk event as early as May. “Every year, there are stories that I get to hear from people when the meaning of this event comes back to me. Every tree has a story.”

This year’s holiday event will be the 10th annual program that turns the grounds of Comstock Park into a scene of Christmas-lighted splendor. And because it's a monumental year to celebrate, there are some new and big additions that can be seen at the park.

For one, the artificial Tree of Wishes stands the tallest it has ever been reaching a height of 50 feet, including the lighted star atop the tree.

Adrian Steel donated a large gift box decoration that will be lit. A 10-feet tall nutcracker named “Sir Comstock” is in place at the park. Nutcrackers, Berryman said, are known for bringing luck and protection to that which they oversee.

Another decorative display that was added into Comstock Park on Tuesday of this week was a tall standing holiday reindeer named “Louie.” Louie makes his Comstock Christmas Riverwalk debut this year and will be part of the holiday tradition for years to come, Berryman said.

When people check out the park and come upon Louie, they will see that the deer stands not just for the holidays but also for the remembrance of nine lives lost this year.

Louie was able to come to Comstock Park through the involvement and funding of the city of Adrian, Berryman, Old National Bank and K&B Asphalt Sealcoating Inc. The deer is situated directly between two decorated trees at the park, one for Old National Bank and the other tree for K&B Asphalt, which is a Lenawee County based business in Adrian.

Louie is named as such in honor of five employees of Old National Bank who were killed on April 10 in a mass shooting that occurred at the Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky. Eight others were injured, including two responding police officers. The shooter, 25-year-old former employee Connor James Sturgeon, was fatally shot by police.

Because Old National Bank has been a partnering sponsor for the Comstock Christmas Riverwalk for at least five years, Berryman said decorating a memorial tree for the victims of the Louisville shooting would be an appropriate gesture. The addition of Louie was another way for Adrian to reach out and comfort those in Kentucky, he added.

“To me, Comstock Christmas Riverwalk is about community, and that we care,” Berryman said. “Community caring about community is really the theme of Comstock Christmas Riverwalk.”

“We Care!” is a phrase Old National Bank’s across the country were using to remember those employees killed in the shooting. The same phrase appears in Comstock Park on a sign that sits underneath Louie along with five yellow and blue hearts in honor of the victims. The sign also reads “From Adrian to Louisville.”

“I came from Columbus, Ohio. Big city, and they don’t do anything like this,” Dylan Jones, community market manager for Old National Bank in Adrian, said. “For me, at least, and for Old National, we are all about community as well. It means the world to Old National to bring everyone together and honor all the ones who have passed.”

An additional four hearts colored red and blue also are included on the “We Care!” sign below Louie. These four hearts are in remembrance of the four K&B Asphalt employees who were killed on Labor Day of this year, Sept. 4, who were in a work pickup traveling from one job site to another when a crash happened near Britton at the intersection of Britton Highway and Milwaukee Road.

The employees were in a work F-150 pickup when the Michigan State Police said the driver of an F-250 pickup caused a T-bone crash. K&B Asphalt has been in business for nearly 30 years and employs roughly three dozen workers, according to owner Rocky Wingfield.

“I’m a community guy,” Wingfield said, calling the loss of four of his employees a tragic and tough time for his business and for much of Lenawee County. “I like to buy local and stay local. I thought this was a great opportunity for Adrian to show off some of its talents even though it’s a small town. I think it's good for the families as far as healing goes. This is a good healing process for them. We are happy to give back. There is no amount of anything that we can do to help the families get through this. I think it's going to be great for the families to come out and decorate the tree.”

Subscribe Now: For all the latest local developments, breaking news, and high school and college sports content.

While the decorated trees in Comstock Park will always be the star of the Riverwalk, the addition of the decorations and the meaning behind them make Adrian’s Comstock Christmas Riverwalk that more special.

“I just think it's an amazing story when people come together for the right reasons and a good cause. Whether it's Louisville, Kentucky or Adrian, Michigan, we as individuals should care for one another,” Berryman said.

Downtown Tecumseh Christmas Parade also happening today

Downtown Tecumseh, also starting at 7 p.m. today, will have its 2023 Christmas Parade traverse through downtown and bring holiday cheer to the community.

“Let’s Build a Snowman” is the title and theme for this year’s parade in Tecumseh that can be seen throughout the downtown area running along Chicago Boulevard from North Maumee to North Union streets.

Paradegoers should be on the lookout for Santa Claus riding in the parade, an announcement from the Greater Lenawee Chamber of Commerce said. Santa also can be visited at the Santa House, which will be at the corner of Chicago Boulevard and Pearl Street after the parade and at other times throughout the holiday season.

— Contact reporter Brad Heineman at bheineman@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: twitter.com/LenaweeHeineman.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: New decorations at Comstock Christmas Riverwalk remember lives lost this year