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Santa Claus Pays Downtown Toms River a Visit
By Judy Smestad-Nunn
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| --Photo By Judy Smestad-Nunn Santa paid a visit to downtown Toms River recently, bringing the Christmas spirit to residents. |
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The Christmas season got a jump-start last Friday night, when hundreds of adults and children attended the annual tree lighting ceremony and arrival of Santa Claus in downtown Toms River.
While the Ron and Bill Show warmed up the audience with their singing and guitar playing, the crowd enjoyed baked goods, hot chocolate and coffee.
Despite frigid temperatures, families lined up for the elf balloonist, Zimmerman's horse drawn wagon and carriage rides and the Victorian candy-cane lady.
The event was hosted by the Business Improvement District (BID) of Toms River and sponsored by WJRZ. Radio disc jockey Glen Colina was the master of ceremonies for the evening, and adding to the excitement was the presence of New Jersey television channel 12, who was broadcasting the event live.
Executive Director of BID, Mike Redpath, explained that the purpose of their organization is to foster the economic revitalization of downtown Toms River, which encompasses the area from the Garden State Parkway eastward to Hooper Avenue, and from Route 37 southward to the river.
"We are involved in redevelopment, recruiting new businesses and helping existing businesses do better," Redpath said. "We run special events, such as the Chili Fest and the Ice Cream Festival."
Marketing Director of BID Arleen Read added, "Everything is free, and depending on the weather, the crowd grows every year."
The Monsignor Donovan High School Chorus, led by choral director Cindy Wald-Hardyal, provided additional music. The 70-member choir, dressed identically in hand-knitted red hats and scarves with black pea coats, lined up on the steps of city hall and delighted the crowd with several Christmas songs.
Several soloists and a keyboard player from The Music Academy completed the musical portion of the evening.
As the time for the tree lighting grew closer, the size and excitement level of the crowd grew. The children in the audience knew that Santa would be arriving by firetruck shortly, and that he would not leave until each and every child had a chance to sit on his lap and make their requests.
Six-year-old Emily Latshaw was in the audience with her parents, and was looking forward to asking Santa for an American Girl Doll ("The Emily one, of course!" she said) and Junie B. Jones books.
Three-and-a-half year old James King was going to asks for Geo Tracks and said that he was going to help his 20-month-old sister, Carly, ask Santa for Dora the Explorer.
Along with several other council members, Council President Gregory P. McGuckin welcomed the crowd and called Toms River "the biggest small town in the country." At the same time, sirens could be heard in the background as Santa Claus made a grand arrival in front of the complex.
Santa (AKA Berkeley police dispatcher and volunteer firefighter for Toms River Fire Company #1 Carl Weingroff, 29) said he loves seeing the different reactions of the kids. "Most of them smile, some of them are so excited they burst out crying. It's a good night for families to come out."
Santa said it usually takes about two hours to see all the children. For a $2 donation, families could get a photo of their child on Santa's lap.
Finally, Santa Claus made his way through the crowd, up the stairs and to the light switch where he and McGuckin turned on what appeared to be thousands of lights on the 50- foot-plus tall evergreen.
Then Santa got down to business and went to work.
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