The newly restored towers of Gasson Hall rise above the University’s 80-foot blue spruce Christmas tree, which grows on the lawn of St. Mary’s Hall. This year some 1,400 new lights were strung prior to the December 2 tree lighting ceremony. Joseph Ducie, electrical shop foreman, says a week is devoted to preparing seven 200-foot strands of light. They are laid out on the Conte Forum concourse where electrical shop workers install and test the bulbs, and then they are strung on the tree using a hired crane. The actual lighting ceremony is carefully choreographed, Ducie explains. “When Father Leahy says ‘Let there be light,’ a member of my staff radios me in the basement of St. Mary’s Hall, and I throw the switch.”