The German Centre in West Roxbury hosted its annual Tree Lighting celebration last Friday to the delight of more than 100 residents, family and patrons.

The ceremony included visits from Santa Claus, as well as carols, food, drink and lots of conversation. German Centre Executive Director Sean O’Grady said it’s something everybody at the Centre looks forward to.

“It’s just a tremendous event and we enjoy having everybody to celebrate the holiday season,” he said. “It’s a great time getting together for the season and celebrating with the residents and family members. We all enjoy it.”

O’Grady said the Centre has been hosting the event regularly for the community.

“It’s been going on for years, through multiple administrators for at least a couple of decades,” he said. “It’s one of our great regular events, along with Veterans Day, and we usually see a great turnout from the community.”

The night featured a tree lighting outside with Santa Claus and one young girl officially lighting the tree. The courtyard in front of the German Centre was awash with light when the countdown was down.

“Merry Christmas!” said Santa Claus.

Brothers Rudolf and Ray Buczynski said they came out to remember their mother.

“Our mother used to be here about 15 years ago and we would always come when she was here, and so we came to reconnect with the people,” Rudolf said. “I actually haven’t been back in the intervening years, only since I retired, as I used to work evenings and I couldn’t attend.”

Rudolf said his schedule was pretty heavy during the holidays.

“I used to work for UPS and so I couldn’t take any vacation days during the holidays, and so I always kind of missed this kind of thing.”

Both Ray and Rudolf said they really enjoyed this year’s iteration of the tree lighting.

“I think the food’s really good and they still carry on the tradition,” Ray said. “There are certain things they’re trying to bring back, and this is a pretty good example of what used to be here. I think they’re doing a great job.”

Resident Marie DiAngelis said she and her family comes to see her sister-in-law, who participates in some of the programs at the German Centre.

It’s beautiful, it’s very nice and I think they did a great job,” she said. “We haven’t been to many events, but my husband’s family used to be on the Board here and we’ve known the Centre for a very long time.”

The German Centre, formerly known as the Deutsches Altenheim, was founded in 1914 as a residence for elderly German immigrants. Its heritage was on show during the night, as the caroling portion featured a lot of songs many non-German speakers had trouble singing along with (that didn’t stop them from trying, however).

Since 1914, the nonprofit German Centre has served as a complex for nursing care, assisted living, memory care, adult day health and more. For more information on the Centre, go to https://www.germancentre.org/