Night of Light brightens up the coast
December will hardly have begun when the festive, 10th annual Night of Light brings cheer up and down Main Street. It begins at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, with the lighting of a Christmas tree in Mac Dutra Park at the corner of Kelly Avenue and Main Street. Come listen to holiday strains sung by local carolers, Santa’s merry chuckling and the crowning of the Prince and Princess of the Parade of Lights. Beginning at 7 p.m., the parade will include floats, local dignitaries, an old-fashioned fire truck guiding Santa to his seat for photos and wish lists, and kids bedecked in twinkling lights. Afterward, wander up and down Main Street because there’s lots to see. Kids’ activities sponsored by the Boys and Girls Club of the Coastside will fill the City Hall parking lot. Businesses will stay open late to welcome gift-shoppers. The street will resound with entertainment by the Peninsula Scottish Fiddlers, the Dalton Blues Band, Blame It on the Dog, the Coastside Chorale, the Sit-Down Marching Band, one-man variety showman Greg Frisbee and little holiday touches like snowflakes, chestnuts over an open fire, and all kinds of old-fashioned holiday charm. 726-8380.
|
|
In the tradition of the Stage Road Winter Faire — an entire weekend devoted to the coming holidays on the South Coast — a Christmas tree will be lit Friday, Dec. 4, outside the Pescadero post office. The Pescadero I.D.E.S. Society will offer arts and crafts for holiday shoppers in a benefit event. The tree lighting will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, at the corner of Stage and Pescadero roads, beginning with Santa’s arrival on a fire truck. Local residents will sing carols as people exchange holiday greetings, and local youth will serve free hot cocoa and hot chocolate. Then, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, and Sunday, Dec. 6, in the I.D.E.S. building at the south end of Stage Road, the Pescadero Christmas Boutique will present handmade art or crafts for holiday gift-shoppers to browse. Shoppers will find aprons, Christmas ornaments, jewelry, Mexican artifacts, crystals, personalized tags or license plates, and many other gifts. Pescadero middle-school students will sell fresh vegetables and tamales to raise funds for their annual trip to Washington D.C. 879-0469.
Candy Land invites all ages to play
The economic downturn nearly proved to be a Grinch this year, threatening to do away with the annual re-enactment of the life-sized Candy Land board game, but holiday-minded citizens Cameron Palmer, Dirk Alvarado and Ed Watkins put together the combined forces of Cameron’s Restaurant and Inn, the Boys and Girls Club of the Coastside and the city of Half Moon Bay to bring it back. From 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, the board game will fill the Ted Adcock Community/Senior Center’s large room, at 535 Kelly Ave. in Half Moon Bay. Members of the Half Moon Bay Interact Club will conduct kids through the game, in costume as major characters King Kandy (Cameron Palmer himself,) Queen Frostine, Lord Licorice, Lollipop, the Mud Monster, Prince and Granny, elves and Miss Mint, all in the Peppermint Forest, Lollypop Woods and Molasses Swamp. After the game, young visitors can get photos taken with Santa — who looks a lot like Watkins. Last year the event drew more than 100 kids, and parents brought infants for photos with Santa. 726-8297.
Raise a joyful noise
An estimated nine choirs from Coastside congregations will raise their voices in holiday music at the Christmas Sing, which invites Coastsiders to hear and join in an evening of holiday music hosted by Our Lady of the Pillar Church and held at the church at 540 Kelly Ave. at Church street in Half Moon Bay. In past years, the event has involved the choirs of Holy Family Episcopal Church, the Community United Methodist Church, the Coastside Lutheran Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Moss Beach and the Pescadero Community Church, in addition to the Our Lady choir. The Coastside Chorale will also participate. The pastors will read portions of the Christmas story, and between each choir, participants will be led in traditional, familiar carols. The evening will culminate in the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah,” in which participants can join in, and refreshments — with lots of Christmas cookies — will be served. The event is free. Peggy Rozhon, 726-4574.
Coastside Jewish Community celebrates faith, history, talents
Eighteen is a lucky number in the Jewish tradition, says Coastside Jewish Community member Cathy Hauer and, fittingly, this year’s 18th CHC Hanukkah commemoration will be all the more celebratory. Open to the public, newcomers and non-Jews alike, it will be held on the third of this eight-night holiday which hails freedom from oppression more than 2,300 years ago, and the miracle of the lamp in the Jerusalem temple which was low on oil yet kept burning for eight nights as the temple was rededicated (the word “Hanukkah” refers to rededication, Hauer said.) The celebration is scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 13, at the Sanchez Concert Hall at 1220 Linda Mar Ave. in Pacifica. Guests are invited to bring their Menorahs and candles for a community candle lighting and a vegetarian dish for the dinner potluck. Organizers plan holiday-themed crafts for children, and a silent auction focusing on Judaica items, jewelry, Bay Area theater and museum tickets. New this year is a talent show which is open to all and to all ages; as of mid-November the talent already lined up included singers, guitar players and CJC members planning to read non-traditional, new and funny Hanukkah stories. Also new this year, besides traditional dreidel games for children, there will be a high-stakes dreidel game for adults, which will also raise funds for CJC general expenses. Admission to the celebration is a $7/individual and $12/family donation for CJC members and $10/individual and $18/family donation for nonmembers. For general information, contact the CJC at (650) 306-0328; for information about the talent show contact Sara Russell at (650) 490-0914.
Boat decorations to light up harbor waters
You don’t have to be in town or even on land to enjoy the colors of the holidays. On Dec. 19, come down to Pillar Point Harbor to enjoy sparkling and eye-catching decorations reflected in the waters and smiles of boat owners at the annual Boat Lighting Contest. Commercial and recreational boats alike are dressed up for the holidays with a range of creative decorations that include strands of lights along the rigging, Santas and reindeer and snowmen on the decks. You can expect recorded holiday classics like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” floating in the air or even screens that show snippets of holiday films or scenes. It all begins at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19, when a panel of judges — community residents and business owners — wander up and down the docks, taking notes on the best-decorated boats. There are the traditional top two prizes of one month’s free berth rental, for commercial and recreational, but several other prizes for best-decorated boats. The judging culminates with a party at the Half Moon Bay Yacht Club at 214 Princeton Ave. in Princeton, which commands a sweeping view of the boats. But the decorations will remain up — weather permitting — throughout the holiday season. 72604382.
*Nights of Light 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, Main Street, Half Moon Bay, 726-8380
*Pescadero Christmas Boutique begins with tree lighting 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, Pescadero post office, Stage and Pescadero Creek roads; continues with the holiday boutique, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5 and Sunday, Dec. 6, 879-0469
*Candy Land noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, Ted Adcock Community/Senior Center, 535 Kelly Ave., Half Moon Bay, 726-8297
*Coastside Jewish Community Hanukkah Celebration 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, Sanchez Concert Hall, 1220 Linda Mar Blvd., Pacifica, (650) 306-0328
*Christmas Sing 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, Our Lady of the Pillar Catholic Church, 540 Kelly Ave. at Church Street, 726-4674
*Boat Lighting Contest 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19, Johnson Pier, Pillar Point Harbor, Princeton, 726-4382
w