Pikes Peak Hospice Foundation hosts the 39th annual Tree Lighting ceremony to honor veterans, lost family members

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Saturday, the Pikes Peak Hospice Foundation hosted the 39th annual tree lighting in downtown Colorado Springs. The ceremony featured live music, a bagpipe performance and the reading of the names of those lost in the care of the Hospice Foundation.

Hosted on the side lawn of the Pioneer Museum downtown, the ceremony was a way for the Hospice foundation to be there for the families they care for that have lost a loved one.

"The lights on the trees really represent members that we have lost in the past," Andy Petersen, Executive director of the Pikes Peak Hospice Foundation said. "And the symbolic lighting of those lights really helps shore up the memories that we have of those family members that we've known."

The ceremony ended with the annual tree lighting, featuring a red, white and blue tree in front of the museum to honor veterans.

"With the lighting of the red, white and blue tree, I think it's very special for my compatriots in arms or shipmates to have this honor," Penny Nelson said.

Nelson served in the Navy for nine years and is now a certified hospice CNA with Pikes Peak Hospice.

"It's such an honor that everybody wants to come together for this to honor our loved ones today and to respect the sacrifice that all of our men and women in arms are making overseas," Nelson said.