Ready or not, the holidays are upon us and Baldwinsville is ready to embrace the season with a kick-off tree lighting ceremony.
From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday Nov. 29 at the Red Mill Inn, the Greater Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce will host Christmas in the village in conjunction with local business owners and community volunteers.
“The Christmas tree lighting has been held at various locations throughout the years, and Red Mill Inn has graciously provided their location for the third year,” said Lee Wilder, executive director of the Greater Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce. “As much as we like to keep this event smaller with a nice, ‘small town’ appeal, it seems to grow larger every year, which isn’t a bad thing for the community.”
Santa will arrive to the party in style by fire truck. Then, he and Mayor Joseph Saraceni will light the tree, which the Harrison family of Baldwinsville donated to the community. Afterwards, children can visit with Santa inside the Red Mill Inn where a free photo (provided by Bridge Church) will commemorate the exchange for years to come. Live entertainment and free horse and carriage rides add to the fun.
“We are delighted to have some caroling this year headed up by Tower Square Securities’ Dave Horan,” Wilder said.
But that’s not all.
Adding to the evening’s ambience, Christmas movies (provided by North East Entertainment) will be exhibited for everyone’s viewing pleasure inside the inn. Shamballa’s Caf (c), Abbott Farms and P&C Foods will provide coffee, cider and cookies, respectively, while Sugar & Spice Party Planners will provide cocoa, in addition to joining Word of Life Academy to lead crafting activities.
“Jackie Coe [Sugar & Spice] and Pam Christianson [Red Mill Inn] have put together a nice event for our children,” Wilder said. “They have incorporated some additional activities to keep children at ease, while waiting to take their turn to visit with Santa.”
Forget ‘Black Friday’
Local retailers and restaurants will offer shopping specials throughout the day on Saturday Nov. 29.
“We have some high quality gift shops right here in our own backyard and we hope the community will utilize them this holiday season and Shop B’ville,” Wilder said. “Shops will be offering specials and holiday cheer throughout the day.”
To promote “Shop B’ville,” the chamber will donate a $50 gift certificate to the person with the largest amount of purchases made on Saturday Nov. 29. To participate, bring receipts to the chamber office between 9 a.m. and noon Monday Dec. 1.
“In order to grow our retail in the community we have to show our support with the shops we have,” Wilder said.
Organizers only ask that participants bring a non-perishable food item or a pair of mittens to donate that evening.
The tree lighting ceremony has been a village tradition for many years, being located first in front of the First United Methodist Church, then moving to Paper Mill Island, followed by the old Harrington Fire Station.
“Special thanks to the DPW, Mace Markham for setting up the tree and Timber Tree Services’ Stan Dombroski for donating a tree again this year,” Wilder said.
For more information, call the Baldwinsville Chamber at 638-0550.
