Gardendale residents will have a chance next week to attend the first Christmas tree lighting ceremony in their city.

The Greater Gardendale Chamber of Commerce and the city of Gardendale are hosting the ceremony Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., at the Gardendale Civic Center.

“We want to welcome all communities. This is a time of family, friends and Christmas. That’s what it’s all about,” said Kris Marshall, executive director of the chamber of commerce.

Three children’s choirs will sing carols during the ceremony.

The choirs are from Gardendale-Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church, The Church Revived and Gardendale First Baptist Church.

In addition, Faith and Friends, featuring Gardendale city councilwoman Faith Harper and other singers, will perform for the crowd.

The centerpiece of the event — the Christmas tree — was donated to the city by Art and Cecily Chaney of Gardendale.

Cecily Chaney said she and her husband planted the tree along with other plants when they moved to their house in 2002.

“It just got time to take it out because it was way too big,” said Chaney, who is a member of the Garden Dale Garden Club and a Jefferson County Master Gardener with the Alabama Cooperative Extensive Service.

“I believe in conservation and recycling and I believe we should beautify our surroundings as much as we can,” Chaney said. “Plants seem to do that.”

Chaney said it has been used as a Christmas tree once before. Her husband cut eight feet from the top of the tree last year and the Chaneys gave it to neighbors to use as their Christmas tree.