MIDDLEBORO – The tourism committee will hold Middleboro’s annual tree lighting ceremony between 4:30-5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1 at Middleboro Town Hall on 10 Nickerson Ave.

Santa will be present at the tree lighting, and students from the Burt Wood School of Performing Arts will sing carols. There will also be refreshments such as hot chocolate at the tree lighting.

After the tree is lit, stores in Middleboro’s downtown will be celebrating their monthly “First Fridays” event. Many stores will remain open until 9 p.m., far later than their usual closing hours, and Middleboro residents and residents of nearby towns get a head start on their Christmas shopping. 

Sandy Cronin, a co-owner of Rekindled Home, which is a store in downtown Middleboro that will be participating in First Fridays, said that the evening of Dec. 1 is a good opportunity to get a head start on Holiday shopping. 

Cronin also said that many stores would be participating in a Holiday scavenger hunt starting on Dec. 15, and that additional details about the scavenger hunt would be forthcoming at a later date.

“We’re not a big store that has a ton of inventory,” Cronin said. “What we have is here, and when it’s gone it’s gone. So if you want the good stuff, you have to come now.”