South Windsor’s annual Sparkle Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony hosted by Evergreen Walk took place on Saturday, December 6th.
The event took place on The Green by Ben and Jerry’s, and it was a massive success.
From 5:00-7:00, The Green was covered with families, filled with the sound of holiday music, and overflowing with holiday spirit.
There were carols being played, and free hot cocoa and light-up holiday toys being given away. Additionally, multiple Evergreen Walk businesses had tables set up for advertisement and giveaways.
South Windsor Fire Department brought excitement with a parade of fire trucks driving past with flashing lights, greeting all of the spectators.
“I’ve been going to the Ceremony for as long as I’ve lived in South Windsor,” resident Sophia Gordon commented. “I think it’s a wonderful tradition, and I always look forward to seeing my friends and the development of the ceremony. It used to be just the tree lighting, and it turned into a whole event with firefighters and carolers too.”
Aside from carols being played on just the speakers, there was also a group of four live carolers singing in front of the crowd, and moving around Evergreen Walk to sing after their performance.
Later on, event hosts Renee Denino and Caitlin Francis called up all of the kids in the crowd to lead the group in singing holiday carols. The microphone was passed around as kids of all ages sang songs such as the famous, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”
The entire evening was centered around both the arrival of Santa Claus and the lighting of the tree.
At approximately 5:30, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived in a horse-pulled sleigh from the Triple T Family Farm of Stafford, Connecticut. Families were lining the sidewalk to see the pair arrive, with children screaming out of excitement.
“I’m really excited to go next year,” resident Izzy Dzubin added. “I want to experience these fun holiday moments with everyone in my town.”
Shortly after Santa’s arrival, emcees Denino and Francis led the crowd in the anticipated countdown to lighting the Holiday Tree.
Santa and Mrs. Claus sat in front of the tree to take photos along with the company of an elf.
Following the lighting of the tree, The Ugly Sweaters band got on stage and played versions of holiday carols with a rock-genre twist.
Connecticut State Representative, Tom Delnicki, was seen as one of the spectators in the crowd of the event.
Throughout Evergreen, there were signs promoting their seasonal complimentary Horse & Wagon Rides from 4:00-7:00pm on December 12th, 13th, 19th, and 20th.
Overall, the evening was packed with festive activities for all age ranges, and was a bustling community event to spread cheer throughout the town.
