Newtown will once again hold three tree lightings this holiday season. All three are scheduled for the first weekend of December.

The 33rd Annual Ram Pasture Tree Lighting is scheduled for Friday, December 1. The event will begin with musical performances at 6:30 pm, and continue with the tree lighting at 7, and continue with additional caroling, refreshments, and visits with Santa and Mrs Claus.

As of November 2, confirmed performers included Newtown High School Chorus members and students of Lathrop School of Dance. Additional performers may be added.

Cookies and cider are again being donated for the event by Carol Georges from People's Bank and Gigi Maloney from Union Savings, respectively.

In the hours leading up to this year's event, Newtown Parks & Recreation employees will be placing luminarias around Ram Pasture, and on nearby roadways leading to the historic property.

Residents along Main Street, Main Street South, Glover Avenue, Elm Drive, and Sugar Street will still be responsible for lighting the luminarias - cardboard boxes with cutout designs, again being donated by Curtis Packaging in Sandy Hook - but Parks & Rec will take care of setting them out, according to Renia Marini, who is helping to organize the event.

"Residents will still be responsible for extinguishing the candles by 10 pm that night," she added. Local Boy Scouts and other volunteers will take care of picking up the luminarias later that evening, or early Saturday morning, she said.

While the Newtown Chamber of Commerce sponsors the Ram Pasture tree lighting, sponsorships and donations help defray the costs associated with the event. Donors may contribute $10 for a bulb or luminaria to honor someone special. Notes indicating the name and address of a donor, and the name(s) of those beingin honored or memorialized with a bulb or luminaria (at the choice of the donor), can be mailed to the chamber office c/o Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street, Newtown CT 06470.

Donations can also be dropped off at Chamber office, located on the main floor of the former town hall building. A drop slot is available on the door of that office, so donations can be securely left if the office is not open when donors stop by.

The 17th Annual Sandy Hook Tree Lighting will take place the following night, on Saturday, December 2.

The event is being coordinated by Sandy Hook Organization for Prosperity, and additional details are expected within the next week.

The 8th Annual Hawleyville Tree Lighting and Toy Drive will then follow on Sunday, December 3.

Residents are invited to gather at Barnabas Plaza, 23 Barnabas Road, for the one-hour event scheduled to begin at 5:30.

Santa and Mrs Claus will be arriving via a Hawleyville Volunteer Fire Company fire truck. The event will also include snacks, hot drinks, singing and dancing, and a toy drive for The Newtown Fund.

This event is organized by Stony Hill Four Corners, a business association covering the Hawleyville section of Newtown and the Stony Hill section of Bethel.