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Persons from all walks of life turned up on Thursday at the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony at the St William Grant Park in downtown Kingston.

Among them was the # Miss Francis, who travelled all the way from Mavis Bank, rural St Andrew, to witness the event.

The acute pain she feels in her feet didn't deter her from showing up at 3 p.m., aided by her walker, securing a comfortable spot.

Arriving hours before the scheduled start, she sat in the sun waiting, and watched as the park was transformed for the event.

"It's a pleasure ... it beautifies the entire city. The tree lighting keeps up the park very nice and it beautifies the place. Yuh have children and yuh have big people coming together in the park and I love to be here year after year," she told THE WEEKEND STAR.

FEET ARE SWOLLEN

"I'm travelling from way up in St Andrew. I take the bus come down. My feet are swollen and I nearly got a stroke recently so I should be resting. I have to walk with a walker and sometimes I stagger even when I use it. Despite all of that, I had to be here to watch whatever procedure is going on," she said as she drank a cup of soup.

Francis said she has never missed one of the tree-lighting ceremonies - she makes it her duty to be in attendance each time.

"I come here and I enjoy it and it's a pleasure being here with all the different people. I usually meet and speak with a lot of the different people from many different places. I just thank God for what he has done," she said.

Though she finds it fitting that the tradition continues every year, she believes it was especially necessary this time to close out 2019 after the multiples killings across Jamaica.

"We have to thank God for everything he has done. This is needed because God has spared our lives. So we have to thank him and pray that he spares our lives to see many more tree lightings. In spite of the killings, what we have to do is pray and ask God to have mercy upon us. Those doing the killings, they are to see themselves and repent of their sins," she said.

Francis told THE WEEKEND STAR that she didn't know any of the people who were slated to perform, but she was looking forward to enjoying them.

"I'm just here for the celebration because I love it," She said.