Courtesy photo Third-grade students in Courtney Wilzius’s art class at Escanaba Upper Elementary pause to grin at a camera while working on wooden ornaments from Kobasic Creations for the Escanaba Community Christmas Tree. The project was coordinated with the Downtown Development Authority.

ESCANABA — Students from Escanaba Upper Elementary will go on a miniature field trip today to Center Court to see ornaments they decorated be hung on the city Christmas tree.

The Escanaba Downtown Development Authority (DDA) organizes all sorts of events in the city at the heart of Delta County, including Black Friday on Tuesday, the Christmas parade and other happenings involving the business district around Ludington Street.

This year, the DDA approached Courtney Wiltzius, art teacher at Escanaba Upper Elementary, about the possibility of students making ornaments to decorate the blue spruce in Center Court — in front of the DDA building at 1025 Ludington St. — traditionally lit during the holidays.

Escanaba Area Public Schools’ Upper Elementary is attended by students in third through fifth grades. For the Christmas ornament project, Wiltzius’s seven classes of third-graders participated.

The teacher contacted Kobasic Creations, a local business on Stephenson Avenue that specializes in wooden signs and other personalized products often made using computer numerical control machines. The shop cut 150 ten-inch-tall wooden shapes in six designs — 25 each of stars, snowflakes, gingerbread people, candy canes, snowmen, and stockings — and the DDA handled the bill, said Valine Kobasic.

Wiltzius said that the Wells Lions Club and Wells Lioness Club donated money for the project.

The ornaments were painted by the 140 third-graders and then weather-sealed.

A couple weeks ago, adult students of the North Country Electrical Line School studying to become linemen practiced using a bucket truck to wrap the large spruce at the corner of Ludington and South 11th Streets with Christmas lights.

DDA Executive Director Craig Woerpel said that over 2,000 lights were strung upon the tree. He remarked on the fact that the lights are multi-colored again this year — last year, the tree was adorned with white and blue strands — and with large bulbs, so “hopefully it’ll look really good,” he said.

At noon on Tuesday, Nov. 19, children will troop over to Center Court from the Upper Elementary four-and-a-half blocks away.

“We’re gonna feed them full of hot chocolate and cookies, play Christmas music, and they can watch their ornaments be put up on the tree,” said Woerpel.

Once again, North Country Electrical Line School will be on the scene to continue dressing the tree with the kids’ decorations.

The following week, on the 26th, the Black Friday on Tuesday event featuring sales at downtown businesses from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. will culminate around the fully-ornamented Escanaba Christmas tree.

“The City Band will be playing from 6 until 7 (p.m.), and then the goal is to try to get all the kids to help sing ‘O, Christmas Tree’ and have the lights come on at 7,” Woerpel said. “When the lights come out at seven, then all the lights on the garland will come on at the same time down Ludington Street.”