November 29 – Now that we have all stuffed ourselves to the gills with turkey and the fixings we immediately move onto Christmas. To kick off the holiday season the Barryville Chamber of Commerce will be hosting their Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony on Saturday, December 3 starting at 7pm at the Cul de Sac in Barryville at the junction of Route 55 and 97 by the Shohola Bridge. I attended last year, and it is really a lovely event with bonfires to keep us toasty and hot chocolate and homemade goody treats from Konrads Kitchen. The tree is a natural 50-foot evergreen all dressed up for Christmas that has been growing in the Cul de sac in Barryville for years. The ceremony will be hosted by the amazing Broadway and TV actor Erin West and the event is packed with entertainment with feature performances by Erin West, Franklin Trapp from the Forestburg Playhouse, Mike Edison and his Rocket Train Gospel from the Garage and the Yulan Brass Duo.

There will be remote ways of viewing if you are not a fan of standing under the stars on a sparkling winter evening. The tree lighting will be broadcast on WJFF radio (90.5 FM) also Facebook.com/wjffradio, and on facebook.com/greaterbarryvillechamberofcommerce. For some serious social distancing there is great viewing from the comfort of your car in the parking lot of McKean Real Estate, the Barryville Creamery and Clobr Men’s Clothing Store. For more information go to the Greater Barryville Chamber of Commerce or visit their Facebook page. The Barryville Chamber’s Tree Lighting ceremony is a truly magical family friendly night and a not-to-be-missed event that starts our winter wonderland holidays. For more information about the Tree Lighting or our local Christmas shopping information visit the Chamber’s site at barryvilleny.com 

If you have recently driven through Eldred at night, you saw that the Monteleone family have put up some amazing Christmas decorations around their Monteleone Gardens HydroFarm Plaza. On Sunday, December 4 at 4:30pm, there will be a tree lighting with Santa and his North Pole Friends for a new event -Christmas Time in Eldred celebration.  There will be plenty of music and dancing, a mailbox ready to accept letters to Santa and magic reindeer treats and fun for the whole family. Have your cameras ready for some great photos. Then enjoy a spectacular light show followed by Santa and a very special guest lighting the Monteleone Garden’s eighteen foot tall Christmas tree.  The Christmas Time in Eldred event is sponsored by The Corner, The HydroFarm and the Pizza Piazza and will take place at 577 Route 55 in Eldred. For all the details go to Lou Monteleone’s Facebook page.

In years past before the pandemic, many organizations in town would hold holiday craft fairs and it was fun to attend and see what local crafters were doing. Now these fairs are not being held. I spoke with some local craft people, and several are going to be participating in the Lackawaxen Volunteer Fire Department’s Ladies Auxiliary’s Annual Craft Fair which will take place on Saturday, December 3. The Fair hours are from 9:30-3pm at the Fire House which is located at 774 PA-route 590 which is located right over the Roebling Bridge. There will be lots of local crafts, food vendors, free parking and a door prize will be announced every half hour. So, get a jump on your Christmas shopping and support our local artisans. For more information about the Fair or to become a vendor call Linda at 570-685-1998.