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Hundreds of residents and visitors flooded down to First Street in Eureka’s Old Town last night to attend the third annual Christmas tree lighting celebration at the Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate factory.

“Yeah, it was definitely the biggest one so far,” co-owner Adam Dick said in a phone interview this afternoon. “This is the third time we’ve done it, and it’s been getting bigger year over year. But this felt like the biggest one for sure.”

The city had blocked off First Street between D and E, and crowds gathered shoulder-to-shoulder, sipping hot beverages and noshing various items from a pair of local food trucks as the Arcata Interfaith Gospel Choir performed:

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Over the past year, Dick Taylor owners Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor were able to widen the sidewalk in front of their chocolate factory, and it proved an ideal holiday gathering spot. Inside the factory, the pair addressed the crowd (or as many who could fit inside, anyway) ahead of a group countdown to the tree lighting.

Taylor remarked on his fond memories of attending the annual Christmas tree lighting that used to take place at the Eureka Inn, and he said that when he and Dick purchased this waterfront warehouse with such high ceilings, they realized the could revive the tradition.

Here’s the big countdown:

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Last we checked in with Dick Taylor, tariffs in imported cocoa were wreaking havoc on the industry. But speaking to us from inside the factory this afternoon, Dick said 2025 has been a strong year for the business. 

“We’re navigating most of these price hikes fairly well,” he said. “Some tariffs have been eased on Central American countries, but cocoa from Africa doesn’t fall under that. Maybe, in time, all cocoa will be exempt from tariffs.”

Dick said the holiday season is prime chocolate-selling time. 

“There’s something that must be in our mammalian brains,” he remarked. “When it’s really warm, people really don’t eat as much. But at soon as November rolls around, people just seem to start craving chocolate.”

Out on the street, tiny cups with free samples of drinking chocolate were being snatched up as fast as employees could set them on trays. Dick said the business’s workforce has allowed him and Taylor to enjoy some of the fruits of their labor.

“[Last night] was a blast for us, too,” he said. “We have such a good crew here now, a really good staff. They’re so capable. In the early days it was Dustin and I doing all the stuff. Now, with this good crew, we can socialize and talk to some of the people who’ve been buying our stuff for years.”

As he prepared another batch of chocolate for the masses, Dick said he’s happy with how the tree-lighting ceremony went down.

“It felt like a good, positive community event, which is all we could hope for.”