Are We There Yet?: Sunday Holiday Celebrations

You've eaten all the stuffing. You've secured a few Black Friday weekend bargains.

 

You've entertained the kids for a couple days despite some cold and sloppy weather.

 

Now what?

 

This week, my friends, Sunday is your savior.

 

Starting at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1 (yes, it's December already, if you can believe it), bring the family to the town of Adams for an old­fashioned New England Christmas kick­off.

 

One of my favorite holiday events of the season, the afternoon features music, caroling, hayrides, hot cocoa and more. Santa Claus will arrive at 3:30 p.m. and help count down to the official lighting of the Town Common tree at 4 p.m. Immediately following the tree lighting ceremony at the Town Common (the park with the gazebo right next to the McDonald's), Santa will light the tree on Summer Street, located on the corner of Summer and Victory streets. 

While I've always found the effect of lighting a tree while there it is still daylight to be admittedly less than spectacular, as a parent of a young child I appreciated the family­ friendly afternoon time slot of this event. But if you are game for bundling the kids up in the cold darkness, the tiny town of Clarksburg lights its tree on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. 

 

If you don't celebrate Christmas, or want to expose the children to a different culture, consider Sunday's other big event: the annual Hanukkah Family Festival at the Berkshire Mall (Macy's Court) at 4 p.m. I found it interesting that the first full day of Hanukkah coinciding with Thanksgiving this year ­ leading some to dub it "Thanksgivukkah" ­ will not happen again for thousands of years, if ever. (If you're a numbers person and want to read a funny story about why that is so, click here. Just don't blame me if it gives you a headache.)

 

In any case, the event at the mall features the lighting of a giant menorah, children's crafts, live music, food, face paintings and the family highlight: "Bubblemania" with Casey Carle. According to his website, you will see: giant floating spheres up to 4 to 6 feet in diameter; bubbles that bounce; a bubble cube; fog­ filled bubbles; a bubble "volcano" and more! I attended this event a couple years ago with my daughter and we found Carle's bubble antics to be pretty hilarious. The whole event is free; click here for all the details.

 

One last event I will mention this week since I won't post again until next Thursday: The city of North Adams, in anticipation of the big storm expected Wednesday, Nov. 27, moved its annual Thanksgiving­-eve Christmas tree lighting ceremony to Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 5 p.m. (I never liked it on Thanksgiving eve, anyway!) Gather at the east end of Main Street (up by the library) for songs, Santa and Mrs. Claus, and the lighting of the large downtown tree. Hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate more on Dec. 4. Until next week: Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah to all!