Whitehall brings back holiday festivities

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By Donna Frischknecht

In the 1966 Broadway musical “Mame,” actor Angela Lansbury belts out the song, “We Need a Little Christmas,” after learning about her character’s lost fortune in the 1929 stock market crash. Seeking to cheer herself and those around her up, her character decides it’s time for a little holiday decorating earlier rather than later.
After all, what can bring a smile to the faces of young and old better than twinkling lights on a Christmas tree and lots of bows, ribbons and holly?
It seems 2016 is the year Whitehall is thinking the same as members of various organizations have been initiating new “old” holiday traditions that they hope will bring smiles to its residents, while making the historic village a destination for visitors to come, explore and shop.
For example, the island by the red lights at Routes 4 and 22 off Broadway will be adorned with a Christmas tree, while the planters and flower beds introduced to the village last spring, thanks to the Chamber of Commerce’s Beautification and Enhancement committee, will be decorated as well.
“It used to be Main Street was all lit up for Christmas,” said David Molenaar, head Whitehall’s Beautification and Enhancement.
But like many of American’s small towns and villages, Whitehall experienced a downturn in downtown businesses. As businesses closed and people moved out, the bright lights of Christmas dimmed to almost becoming non-existent.
This year, though, solar-powered holiday lights will decorate those planters, Molenaar said, as he and some of the committee members will head out next week to once again light up Whitehall.
Molenaar and his committee aren’t the only ones taking on the role of decorating elves. Suzi Chaplin and husband, Dave, village trustee and owner of Doc’s Repair, along with the help of several townspeople, have been busy planning a community Christmas tree lighting for this Friday, Dec. 2, starting at 6 p.m.
A 10-foot tree with stand, donated by Dave Chaplin, has been hoisted in the pavilion in the park across from the EMS Squad on Skenesborough Drive.
The tree will feature lights and decorations donated by the town and Donna Larson. Guest of honor Army Sgt. Dennis Downs will have the privilege of switching the tree lights on.
Sergeant Downs, of Whitehall, served two deployments in Iraq. In 2010, he was injured in a mortar attack in Afghanistan. Doctors spent the next few years trying to save and reconstruct Downs’ leg before finally deciding to amputate.
“It is heartwarming to have Sergeant Downs be part of the tree lighting,” Chaplin said.
Joining Sgt. Downs will be the Whitehall High School chorus who will lead the crowd in caroling. Chaplin is asking those coming to the lighting to bring non-perishable food donations for the Whitehall Food Pantry. Just another way, she said, of not only celebrating a season of lights but also remembering those in the community who are less fortunate.
The tree-lighting, the brain-child of Suzi Chaplin, was admittedly an idea that came to her just prior to Thanksgiving. Realizing it had been a while since Whitehall had done something like a community tree-lighting, she picked up the phone and called town supervisor George Armstrong. Armstrong embraced the idea and by the time the call ended Whitehall had a tree-lighting scheduled.
“This was put together in a matter of a few weeks, so for next year I would like to see businesses and residents add to this event,” Chaplin said, hoping for the tree-lighting to become an annual event, one that will bring “the community closer together.”