Grafton Celebrates the Holidays on Dec. 8
Look for the Frosty stops!
Santa Claus is coming to town.
Make that a whole lot of Santas. And hot chocolate and Christmas carols. Crafts to buy and make, trains and animals, cookies and canapés, and Santas — greeting children at banks, posing with pets and arriving in a grand fashion on the back of a Grafton fire engine to light the tree on Grafton Common.
It’s the 24th year of Grafton Celebrates the Holidays, which will run for most of the day on Sunday, Dec. 8.
The day kicks off at 10 a.m. with a craft and vendor fair at the Grafton Municipal Center, which runs until 3 p.m.
Many stops are perennial favorites such as Santa’s Workshop at Savers Bank, the Polar Express Trackless Train Rides at UniBank, photos with Santa at Homefield Credit Union, the Craft and Vendor Fair at the Municipal Center Gym, and letter-writing to Santa at the Grafton Fire Dept. Many other stops return year after year, including the Willard House & Clock Museum with their decorated galleries and unique collections, the Farnumsville Fire House with tours and viewing of a 1858 handtub fire engine, and Studio 79 with complimentary hair tinsel and creative card making for our troops.
Others are new this year such as Roney Funeral Home at the newly dedicated Stephen H. Roney Memorial Park with a fire truck to see and hot drinks and cookies to enjoy, Simply Orthodontics with a winter wonderland and photo booth, Driven Self Defense offering kids karate lessons, wristbands, and selfie photo booth, and Touchstone Community School with a Handmade Holiday – local family artisans, homeschoolers and students will offer handmade items for sale.
Special holiday performances will also be taking place at the Unitarian Universalist Society with a performance of “A Christmas Carol” at noon and 1 p.m. and a holiday concert at 2:30 p.m. at Apple Tree Arts in the Great Hall of the Grafton Town House.
Santa will make his arrival on the Common for the official tree-lighting ceremony and sing-along. Join along with caroling by the Girl Scouts at 4 p.m., then enjoy music by guitarist Mike Tarara before Santa arrives at 4:30 p.m., then continue with caroling until the tree-lighting at approximately 4:45 p.m.
Make sure to take advantage of the trolley to ease parking and traffic flow and make for a fun trip around town that will run from the main parking lot at Grafton High School to the Municipal Center, the Common, and Koopman’s Plaza, for easy access to some of the most popular Frosty Stops.
The Recreation Department as well as Savers Bank and the Grafton Fire Department also collect toys to assist the Grafton Food Bank in their holiday distribution to families in need. You may drop off a new, unwrapped toy to one of these locations by Dec. 18.
Follow Grafton Recreation on Facebook at @GraftonRecDept for highlights leading up to the big day and a live feed on the day of. For detailed times and event descriptions and locations, pick up a brochure at participating businesses or visit online at GraftonRec.com.
