PHOTOS: A low-key Grafton Celebrates the Holidays
Santa Claus gave a thumbs up and waved as a car slowed in the Grafton High School parking lot.
“Hi Santa!” called some children from the back seat, blue disposable masks up despite the considerable distance between their vehicle and Santa, who perched on a throne he normally shares with a child on his lap.
“Merry Christmas!” he answered as he sat beside Grafton Fire Engine 4.
COVID-19 has changed Grafton Celebrates the Holidays — as it has everything else — but the spirit remained strong. Can’t get close to Santa? Set up a drive-through. Can’t sing carols around the Grafton Common bandstand? Enjoy some music and crafts, virtually, through Apple Tree Arts.
And, crowd or not, the Common did spring to light after sunset. You can’t blame the lack of the Common’s giant pine tree on Covid — the tree came down in a storm over the winter, another victim of 2020 — but a new, much smaller tree is now in its place.
Grafton residents can still drive around town ranking their favorite lit-up homes and businesses. Covid hasn’t entirely quashed the town’s holiday hopes.
If you do manage to get within whispering distance of Santa’s ear, though, can you wish that we return to the sprawling, town-wide, crowd-filled Grafton Celebrates the Holidays in 2021?
