Snow in Newhall?
Santa Claus and the residents of Whoville took a stop in, yes, snowy Newhall for the jolliest start to the holiday season – Light up Main Street.
“Light up Main Street is a cherished Santa Clarita tradition,” said Mayor Jason Gibbs.
Thousands of attendees strolled down Main Street Newhall taking in all of the merriment.
Small businesses selling crystals, blankets, Christmas trays and handmade soaps emphasized all that Santa Clarita has to offer at the local level.
Kids had no shortcoming when it came to entertainment. The options were endless from crafts, games to play at candy cane lane and making a snowman inside of the snow zone. The biggest question for them was if they were naughty or nice, but a picture with Santa could quickly answer that. With a pencil in hand, the kids signed, sealed and delivered their letters to Santa to take back with him to the North Pole.
Live singing and dancing performances had attendees swaying in their spots to Christmas classics as well as remixes.
All of this amongst a bit of showers.
Riley Long and Rachel Dorand moved to Santa Clarita back in July from Seattle, so they both agreed the rain was no challenge for them.
Dorand grew up in Santa Clarita and has not been back for 15 years. He recalled that before he left, Newhall was quite vacant.
“It’s like this amazing place with all these wonderful things, so I was shocked to see this amount of people down here for this thing,” said Long.
Colleen Connors, who also used to live in Santa Clarita, but no longer; agreed that this event marked something more than just the start of the holiday season.
“This was a dream a long time ago of the city to make Newhall the center for this community,” said Connors. “It’s so exciting to see all of these people come here and gather and to see the reality of the city’s vision and it come to life.”
However, the two agreed that the driving factor for their attendance was the holiday spirit of it all.
“I think it puts people in the holiday mood,” said Connors. “I mean, the fact that everybody is out here just shows you how much people are clamoring for a sense of community. They’re here in the rain.”
Gibbs alongside Mayor Pro Tem Cameron Smyth, Councilwoman Marsha McLean and Councilwoman Laurene Weste took to the stage for the much-anticipated moment.
“On behalf of the city of Santa Clarita, the entire City Council would like to extend our warm holiday wishes to all of you,” said Gibbs.
In attendance was also Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth.
In previous years the mayor has been the one to flip the switch to light up Main Street. Gibbs called upon 5-year-old Teddy Grieder to do the job.
“Three, two, one!” screamed the audience.
In just one swift motion, Grieder flipped the switch to illuminate the Newhall Library Christmas tree, Veterans Plaza’s Christmas tree and over 10,000 lights all down Main Street.
“We love Santa Clarita, and we love Christmas and so it was just an amazing opportunity that Jason let us have,” said Grieder’s mother Heather Sandnes.
