Posted on November 22, 2012
It has been a tradition for many years in Bristol to gather in the borough the night after Thanksgiving to light the holiday tree.
The Bristol Borough Business Association will host this year’s event at 6:30 p.m. — with a special twist.
Carlos Rivera, 49, of Bristol, who just returned from Afghanistan, will have the honor of lighting the Christmas tree in his hometown.
Rivera, an Army reservist, said he was thrilled to be asked.
He’s the acting sergeant of the Bristol Borough Police Department, where he has served for 15 years, and a member of the Army since 1993.
Rivera was chosen as a “thank you” for his service in Southwest Asia for the past 10 months.
His wife, Ivonne, is also excited about him being asked to light the tree and thinks it was really nice of the association to ask him, he said.
His children — Nathan, 22, Zachary, 18, and Larissa, 15 — will be there by his side to share in the moment.
“I am happy to be back,” said Rivera.
As an Army veteran, he’s been away from home on many occasions. Among them, he did service in Iraq between 2004 and 2005. He recently returned from a 10-month tour of duty in Afghanistan where he was a sergeant assigned to detainee operations.
“I am thankful for my friends and family and Bristol Borough,” he said.
Diane Davies-Dixon is a freelance
writer and can be reached at news@phillyburbs.com
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