Stephanie Long
(11/15) Christmas may be well over a
month away, but Christmas and Santa Claus are
coming to town a bit early this year.
On Nov. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Santa will make his
first appearance of the season at the Cozy
Restaurant’s annual tree lighting, which
follows Thurmont’s tree lighting in
Mechanicstown Park at 6:30 p.m.
Santa will also be making an appearance at
the Fourth Annual Christmas in Thurmont on
Dec. 1, which runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The
day-long event is packed full of events,
making it a widely attended and popular event.
“It’s a very big event for us [Thurmont],”
said Vickie Grinder, Main Street Manager. “We
always have a good turnout… normally a couple
hundred.”
The day starts with a “map hunt” in which
participants receive a map to take around to
various Main Street businesses to be stamped.
Once the proper stamps are acquired, the map
is entered into a prize drawing held at the
end of the day.
At 11 a.m. Santa is scheduled to arrive and
pose with children for free pictures and from
2 to 4 p.m. a Christmas movie will be shown
for the kids, who can also make a craft during
that time. The day concludes at Hobbs Hardware
where over 150 prizes will be given out.
The Thurmont Historical Society will be
holding an open house in the Creeger House on
North Church St. during the day. Visitors can
get a glimpse of life in Thurmont over its
more than 250 year existence.
Another huge event is the Christmas light
judging event, held from December 11 to 13,
where five homes and one business will be
picked as winners.
