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Neither rain nor cold nor more rain stopped the celebration of the holiday season, Blount County style, Thursday at the 17th Annual Christmas at the Courthouse.

More than 250 people crowded into the Blount County Courthouse to watch County Mayor Jerry Cunningham throw the switch to light the 41 Christmas trees featured in Festival of Trees and listen to Carpenters Elementary Cougar Club Chorus.

Cunningham opened his remarks by wishing the crowd a happy holiday season.

"I've seen on TV that it's politically incorrect, but I'm going to remain politically incorrect and say, 'Merry Christmas,'" he said. "This is a wonderful hometown Christmas event."

Despite the crowded conditions, the crowd seemed to enjoy the show, once the young people from Carpenters started singing.

"It was wonderful," said Stacey O'Connor, whose son sang with the chorus. "It was very good. I enjoyed it very much."

Tristan O'Connor, 9, enjoyed the event. "It was fun singing for the mayor and everybody else," he said.

Cookie Crowson of Blount County Parks and Recreation said that if the rain had ended earlier in the evening, the celebration would have taken place as normal.

"Thirty more minutes we could have been outside," she said.

Crowson was happy with the number of trees entered in the festival. There were only 38 trees in the Festival of Trees in 2007. "I was afraid with the economic impact we've been having locally, we weren't going to have our Christmas trees," she said.

Cunningham presented a Spirit of Tennessee award to the family of U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Michael Ferschke Jr., who was killed Aug. 10 while conducting a search mission at an a Iraqi residence, in honor of his sacrifice.

"Our prayers and thoughts are with you in this Christmas season," Cunningham said.

The mayor also presented local resident Tom Buchanan with a Spirit of Tennessee award for his volunteer work.

"Tom Buchanan represents what is good in Blount County -- the spirit of giving," Cunningham said.