It’s the most wonderful time of the year, all year
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Lisa Scarmazzi, right, meets with other volunteers Thursday as they make decisions on Christmas decorations in Canonsburg.
Observer-Reporter
A cupcake decoration is one of the ornaments volunteers made for a Christmas tree in Canonsburg.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Volunteers make Christmas decorations Thursday in Canonsburg.
Celeste Van Kirk
Lisa Scarmazzi uses a glue gun Thursday to make a Christmas decoration in Canonsburg.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
A cupcake decoration is one of the ornaments volunteers are making for a Christmas tree in Canonsburg.
Too early for Christmas? Not for Santa’s elves in Canonsburg, who have been working year-round to make sure this year’s Christmas celebration is bigger and brighter than ever before.
For Canonsburg’s Christmas committee, every season is the most wonderful time of the year, as they’ve been planning and making this year’s decorations since January.
“I’m Mrs. Christmas for Canonsburg,” said Lisa Scarmazzi, the leader of the committee. “I never get tired of Christmas – I just love it. I’m so excited to walk into the stores and see Christmas decorations already. Most people are appalled by that, but we aren’t.”
The committee was established a year ago, when resident Jean Scarsellato and Carol Imperatore suggested the borough should amp up its Christmas lights and decorations.
“Before last year, it wasn’t very bright and cheerful,” Scarsellato said. “I wanted to see the bright colorful ornaments and anything that sparkles or glitters. I like to see everything lit up with lights – to me, that is so pretty.”
She wanted Canonsburg to look like the festive small towns depicted in Hallmark Christmas specials.
“I thought if these small towns could be decorated the way they are, why couldn’t we get enough people to help make our town look the same way,” she said. “I wanted something to bring our community together to enjoy Christmas.”
Her idea did just that last December for one of the biggest Christmas celebrations the borough has had in years. This year, the aim is bigger and brighter, but the only way to make that happen, Scarmazzi said, was to start early.
“It’s actually a full-time job,” she said. “There have been Christmas decorations in my house since February. We’re going way above the bar this year.”
The committee had its first meeting in January to discuss how well that first event did and what they wanted to improve for this year.
“Last year, this was organized in three months,” she said. “Despite the torrential downpours and the limited funding, it went extremely well.”
She said the Hallmark Channel had a lot to do with the great turnout. Scarsellato had reached out to Hallmark, inviting them to Canonsburg’s Christmas celebration, which was partly inspired by the towns depicted in their movies.
While at the event, Hallmark Channel representatives passed out T-shirts, ornaments and Christmas cards to attendees. They also had a film crew take footage of the day and interview residents. Scarmazzi said they’ve reached out to Hallmark again this year, but are not yet sure if they will be available.
“They put us on the map and helped us get this started,” she said.
This year, they’re going to have the event over two days, Dec. 6 and 7, and block off two blocks of Pike Street instead of one.
All of the buildings in the downtown area are going to have lights along their buildings or awnings, and there will be lit garland on the Morganza Road bridge over Chartiers Creek, Scarmazzi said.
“Our budget was high this year because the building lights are custom made for each building,” she said.
They will cost about $20,000, a good portion of the $45,000 they’ve raised for the event so far.
“We’ve been very fortunate that there are a lot of businesses sponsoring the event and people donating,” Scarmazzi said.
Their fundraising goal is $50,000, and they’re still looking for sponsors and donations. The three main sponsors for the event are Scarmazzi Homes, the Velma Jeffreys Youth Activities Fund and the Greater Canonsburg Economic Development Committee.
They’ll also have “Macy’s worthy” window displays in the storefronts, which will be covered up until the day after Thanksgiving, when they’re planning a “big reveal.” Scarsellato and a “talented and creative” subcommittee have worked on them through the summer, along with other decorations for around town.
“I was at Hobby Lobby the other day, and I sent Lisa a text that ‘I feel like a kid in a toy store,’ because they had all their Christmas stuff out,” Scarsellato said. “I just wanted to buy everything I saw there.”
Scarmazzi said Sarris Candies will be decorating their big tree – at the corner of Adams Avenue and Morganza Road – with peppermint candy-theme ornaments and thousands of white lights.
The senior citizens building will be where children visit Santa, and this year, they’ll decorate it with a “Candy Cane Land” theme. Children waiting in line will also be able to make Christmas cards that will then be sent to military personnel overseas.
Keith and Sharon Evans are helping out with a four-foot, wooden gingerbread house decorating contest. Keith is a custom cabinet builder and designer who’s owned the Zoom Corp. in Canonsburg for 25 years. The gingerbread houses will be lined up along Pike Street, and people will vote on the best decorated. The Evanses have been working to build the silhouettes since May.
“It reminds me to be joyful every morning,” Keith Evans said. “My wife is the Christmas fanatic of the household. I’m more the Grinch of the family, so I’m the reluctant participant.”
They helped with the decorations last year, too. Keith said it was “cold, bitter, numbing and exhausting,” but that the outcome was worth it, because so many enjoyed the celebration last year.
“I look at this as an art project, not necessarily as a seasonal project,” he said. “Art pulls people together from a number of backgrounds, religion and beliefs. I look at it as raising the spirits of the entire community.”
Scarmazzi said in order to make all of this happen, they’ve had so many people like the Evans, volunteering their time or making donations – and it’s only the event’s second year. She said the enthusiasm for Christmas in Canonsburg is “contagious.”
“There’s a nostalgia for Christmas, and I think people generally want to be involved in the community,” she said. “People love our town.”
But how do the committee members submerge themselves in all things Christmas all year and never get sick of it? It has something to do with the season, and the feelings of love and family that nostalgia evokes.
“Back when I was young, you went from house to house at Christmastime visiting relatives and friends and celebrating the season,” Scarsellato said. “People have their own traditions, but everybody really enjoys a time of year when the whole family is together.”
It’s the same reason people swarmed Canonsburg last year, despite the cold, pouring rain.
“Any time you bring carolers and trees and lights, it puts you in the spirit of Christmas and wanting your town to look beautiful,” said Canonsburg Mayor Dave Rhome. “With everything we do here in Canonsburg, when you have good planning you’re going to have good production and a great event like this.”
For more information about the Canonsburg Christmas celebration, visit their website at www.canonsburgchristmas.com.