Making the season bright
Claysville firefighter Jessica Hilderbrand primps Santa Claus (portrayed by Chris Hammett of Canton Township) for his appearance in the Claysville Christmas parade.
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter Members of American Legion Post 639 Junior Auxiliary wait Saturday night for their float to appear in the Claysville Christmas parade in their hometown.
Mildred Carey, president of the United Methodist Women of First United Methodist Church of Monongahela, admires a manger that a member contributed to the group’s creche show Saturday.
Communities across Washington County celebrated the holiday season Saturday with events such as a crèche show in Monongahela and a Christmas parade in Claysville.
Meanwhile, Canonsburg kicked off the holidays with a crowded schedule of back-to-back children’s luncheons with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, hayrides and tours of the borough fire department.
“This year, it was a little bit of everyone pulling this off, everybody we could get,” Canonsburg Borough manager Terry Hazlett said.
He said the celebration normally would have been a project of the Main Street program, but the Main Street manager recently resigned to take another job.
“It worked,” Hazlett said, while serving as disc jockey at one of three luncheons that attracted nearly 150 children.
The United Methodist Women of First United Methodist Church in Monongahela displayed 311 manger scenes at its seventh annual Crèche Show. The show featured traditional manger scenes and others created from toy rubber ducks and with miniature moose.
“We want to bring the town people in to show them the variety of crèches that are out there,” said Mildred Carey, president of the women’s group. “So many of our members collect them.”
Farm tractors and all-terrain vehicles strung with Christmas lights were among the attractions welcoming Santa Claus to Claysville in a parade sponsored by the local fire department.
The guest of honor arrived on a restored 1938 Stuz fire truck, the first motorized vehicle used by Claysville Volunteer Fire Department.
“We’re probably one of the few small towns that still do Christmas,” said local resident Nancy Brownlee, while distributing popcorn to children outside a Main Street business.
“It’s just become a nice tradition,” Brownlee said. “The people in the town get to catch up, and the best part is Santa.”