La Cañada to make the season bright with series of holiday events
On Friday, Dec. 4, the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce will illuminate the city skyline as the annual Festival in Lights celebrates its 21st year.
As Thanksgiving meals morph into leftovers and shoppers triangulate the coordinates of their next big bargain, some local organizations are putting the finishing touches on two La Cañada events designed to ring in the holiday spirit.
On Wednesday evening at Glenola Park, the winter holiday season officially kicks off with an annual tree-lighting ceremony hosted by the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles’ La Cañada Service Unit and assisted by local Troop 7051.
The event takes place from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. at Glenola Park and will include carols, cookies and cider, and lots of holiday cheer, according to organizer and 7051 troop leader Katie Metz.
“It’s really nice, and it does get you in the mood for [the holidays],” Metz said. “People can get so bogged down in life. When you have something like this ... you kind of feel like, ‘I’m ready. I can get my holidays started.’”
La Cañada Mayor Dave Spence will emcee the event, and canned and nonperishable food donations will be accepted to benefit the Foothill Unity Center in Monrovia, which offers services to low-income and homeless residents throughout Los Angeles County.
Sponsors of the tree-lighting event include the Friends of Glenola Park, the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada and the city of La Cañada Flintridge.
Then, on Friday, Dec. 4, the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce will illuminate the city skyline as the annual Festival in Lights celebrates its 21st year.
Starting at 4 p.m., organizers will welcome to the park’s bandstand area the Palm Crest Elementary Melody Makers and the La Cañada Elementary Lions’ Pride chorus as they lead the audience in holiday carols in anticipation of Santa’s big arrival at 5 p.m.
Pat Anderson, president and chief executive of the chamber of commerce, said what began two decades earlier as a simple visit from Santa has expanded over the years to include several more fun features.
“In the beginning, it was just Santa and now it’s morphed into this wonderful community event,” Anderson said in an interview Tuesday.
For this year’s festival — in addition to the traditional photo opportunity with Santa and Mrs. Claus — children and families will be able to play in 10 tons of snow produced just for the occasion and enjoy food available for purchase from area vendors.
At 4:50 p.m., the 10 finalists for the 2016 Miss La Cañada Flintridge court are scheduled to be introduced, and the members of the five-member court will be announced. At 5:15 p.m. Santa himself will throw the switch on the lights, a symbol that the holidays have begun.
Festival-goers are encouraged to bring canned goods and/or unwrapped toys in support of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station annual Toy and Food Drive. The event is scheduled to run until 6:30 p.m.
Memorial Park is located at 1301 Foothill Blvd. Glenola Park is at 5200 Angeles Crest Highway.
--
Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
