Donations are being accepted now through the end of the year and ceremonies are planned in November and December for the annual Hospice of San Joaquin Tree of Lights program.

This event provides local residents the opportunity to recognize people who have impacted their lives, through the purchase of a memorial or honorary light dedication.

“It started in Stockton,” Hospice of San Joaquin Development Manager Liz Skinner explained. “Now it’s all over the 209.”

The popular catchphrase for the program is ‘Light Up a Light, Light Up a Life!’

The 2025 Tree of Lights ceremonies are scheduled as follows:

Stockton, Nov. 25, 5:30 p.m., San Joaquin Delta College

Ripon, Dec. 1, 6 p.m., Veteran’s Memorial Wall

Escalon, Dec. 2, 5:30 p.m., Main Street Park

Manteca, Dec. 3, 5:30 p.m., Doctors Hospital of Manteca

Lodi, Dec. 4, 5:30 p.m., City Hall

Rio Vista, Dec. 6, 5:30 p.m., Main Street

Lockeford, Dec. 6, 5:30 p.m., Highway 88 and East Jack Tone Road

Tracy, Dec. 9, 5:30 p.m., City Hall

Donations for the Tree of Lights help support Hospice of San Joaquin’s programs for terminally ill patients and their families.

Skinner added that the program is now in its 37th year and is going stronger than ever. Each community has its own special gathering, and typically includes an invocation, a guest speaker, thanks offered to donors and then comes the countdown, from five down to one, with the tree then being lit and the sparkling lights aglow for all to see.

“When the lights go on, everyone cheers and screams,” Skinner shared. “It’s very community-oriented and for a lot of people it has become a tradition.”

Director of Development and Marketing for Hospice of San Joaquin, Sandy Stoddard, added that though many of the lights are in memory of a loved one lost, the ceremonies scattered around the 209 are uplifting. She purchases a light each year for her mother, father and sister.

“It’s not a sad kind of thing,” Stoddard said. “It’s a ‘let’s pause and remember’ and be happy with the season.”

She said some of the tree lighting ceremonies are hosted in conjunction with other community events, such as the Parade of Lights in Lodi and a small country fair in Lockeford.

“It started with a PG&E staffer who had lost his wife; they received services from Hospice and they created the first Tree of Lights at Delta College,” Stoddard explained of the initial ceremony more than 35 years ago.

Memory boards are created for each community as well, including the names of those who are represented by lights on the tree.

“Each one is unique,” Stoddard shared of the gatherings. “I think it’s just the spirit of the community, everyone coming together to enjoy the tree and gathering to remember those we have loved and lost.”

She said the Stockton event is by far the largest, with upwards of 500 people attending that gathering, while Lodi draws a big crowd as well.

The tree lighting ceremonies are also a cooperative effort, as the Hospice team works with officials in each city to coordinate the program. Often, said Skinner, the guest speaker for the ceremony is a family member of someone who has received services through Hospice, while special music is included as well.

Stoddard noted that invitations for the various tree lighting ceremonies go out in October, giving people plenty of time to purchase a light and submit a name for the memory board in whatever community they attend the ceremony.

For more information, you can contact Hospice of San Joaquin at 209-957-3888 or visit the website, hospicesj.org

“Just go to at least one,” Skinner urged of the Tree of Lights events. “There’s just such a sense of community … it’s really a powerful thing.”