For his first time as mayor, Rahm Emanuel joined hundreds of people downtown Wednesday for the lighting of the city's official Christmas Tree.
Emanuel took to the microphone in the moments leading up to the tree-lighting and expressed his wish for a unified city.
"Contribute something to your community, contribute something to your city, contribute something to those less fortunate this holiday season so the whole city is stronger for it," he said.
Wednesday's event was the 98th annual in the city of Chicago and featured musical performances with festive holiday music.
The official city Christmas tree was donated from the Sprangler family of Western Springs. The 55-foot-tall Colorado Spruce was chosen over 38 submissions and installed in the Daley Plaza Nov. 4.
