Petersburg Pilot -

A crowd gathered outside the municipal building to watch the annual tree lighting ceremony on Friday evening, where onlookers listened and cheered for Jean Ellis, the honored guest and storied Petersburg native.

Ellis, a 71-year-old with a background in the local newspaper, state legislature, education advocacy, the church and cancer, was chosen to light the community tree on Friday.

Tom Abbott introduced Ellis, where he listed her varied career paths and history of community engagement.

Ellis was the daughter of logging parents and grew up washing dishes and cleaning bunk houses at the...