In the cold night air, people gathered in and around Conti Parkway Saturday evening to bring the warmth of Christmas to life in Elmwood Park.
With hot chocolate in hand from Boy Scout Troop 687, hundreds gathered for the lighting of the village’s official Christmas tree as part of the Holiday Stroll event.
Elmwood Park Village President Angelo “Skip” Saviano counted down, and suddenly, the tree filled with lights. Applause and praise followed as people sat and admired the site.
Saviano credited the village’s Public Works Department for putting in the hard work decorating not only the tree, but the village’s water tower, parkway trees and other parts of the village.
In the past, the village’s tree-lighting ceremony took place at Central Park, but it was moved this year to Conti Parkway in front of Village Hall to highlight the circular drive.
“We wanted to focus on the circle,” Saviano said. “We want to attract families and residents to the circle and create our own winter wonderland.”
Camila Rodriguez and her friend Alejandre Ortiz brought their children out for the event and took pictures of the tree with their cellphones after the tree-lighting ceremony.
Rodriguez is a new resident, living in the village for about a year, and said after viewing the tree she’s glad she decided to make Elmwood Park her home.
“All the holiday festivities are a first for me here,” she said. “I love it. I made a good move when I came here from the city.”
A small group of members of Guerin Prep Chamber Choir sang Christmas carols, while parents and their children stood in line to see Santa Claus.
Three female friends, Iwona Spath, Pohdana Zynych and Debbie Maggioncalda, with their children in tow, have been coming to the village’s holiday lighting events together in the village for the past eight years.
“We’ve been doing it together since the kids were very small,” Zynych said.
They held their children’s place in line as their children played and socialized.
Justin Raffe, 11, and his two younger brothers waited in line with their mother, Jenny Raffe, to get to a chance to chat with Santa. Justin Raffe said he wanted a motorcycle for Christmas, while one his brothers wanted a camera and the other a train set.
Their mother said she’d have to talk the specifics over with Santa.
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“Asking and receiving are two different things,” she said.
Twitter: @DavidDPollard