Lit by thousands of Christmas lights, Uptown Park Ridge transformed Friday night into a winter wonderland as hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the start of the holiday shopping season with the annual Winterfest.
With temperatures hovering near 60 degrees, the performance by the Maine East High School marching band to kick off the annual event turned into an impromptu block party, with many kids shedding their winter jackets while waiting for the guests of honor — Santa and Mrs. Claus — to arrive via a brightly lit Park Ridge fire truck.
But while Santa — who headed to the Park Ridge Library’s second-floor book room to hear what everyone wants for Christmas after greeting Mayor Marty Maloney — was the main attraction for those 10 and younger, the annual event was about more than just what will end up beneath the tree for the adults in attendance.
More Top Picks Best Self Propelled Lawn Mowers
Meg Pfister, her daughter Charlotte, 6, and their friend Adam Cartwright decided on the spur of the moment to attend Winterfest, which also offered free trolley rides around Uptown and to South Park where Santa’s reindeer and elves greeted revelers.
“I love Park Ridge Christmas,” Pfister said. “It really gets you in the spirit.”
And while Cartwright’s main job was to lift Charlotte on to his shoulders once the man in red arrived, he said the event was about more than just the holiday season.
“I grew up here, and this is a chance to see old friends and neighbors,” Cartwright said. “And you can’t beat the weather.”
For Charlotte, though, this was a chance to make sure that Santa knew what she wanted to wake up to Christmas morning.
“An American Girl doll,” Charlotte said, smiling to reveal several missing teeth. “That’s what I hope Santa will bring me.”
As eager boys and girls waited along a newly created Candy Cane Lane outside the library for their turn to whisper their heart’s desire to Santa Claus, carolers began singing holiday favorites as the Maine East band finished their street concert.
Inside the library, employees dressed in their Christmas finest — some wearing sparkly Reindeer antlers — offered cookies and the chance to make a craft to the huge crowd that poured through the doors after Santa made his big entrance.
While the Willows Academy Chamber Choir as well as the Emerson Middle School glee choir and Roosevelt’s fourth- and- fifth-grade chorus performed inside the library, Uptown stores stayed open late and enticed shoppers with giveaways and hot chocolate.
Winterfest also marks the start of the Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s annual Elf on the Shelf promotion featuring Twinkle and Tinsel the elves accompanied by their reindeer, Noel.
The trio will visit various Park Ridge businesses, and anyone who takes a selfie with them — and posts it on the Chamber’s Facebook page through Dec. 15 — will be entered into a raffle to win a $100 gift certificate to local businesses.
Winterfest was hosted by the Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce, the South Park Merchants Association, the city of Park Ridge and the Park Ridge Public Library.
Heather Cherone is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.