It may have been a bit early in the season, but it was definitely holiday time in the Village of Saugerties on Sunday, December 4, with two tree-lighting ceremonies, free goodies at many businesses and music on the streets performed by individual musicians at some businesses and members of the Saugerties High School band and choir offering music of the season.
The day was relatively warm for December, but cold enough for people who had been outside for periods of time to feel it. Abby Jurkowski said that she expected to be pretty cold by the end of the four hours she would be standing in front of the Main Street Cafe handing out churros [Mexican fried treats] to passersby. Unless they ran out sooner.
Across the street, an ensemble from the Saugerties High School band played seasonal music, alternating with the Saugerties High School choir singing seasonal songs.
The list of free treats was long, with hors d’oeuvres at the Saugerties Antique Center, music and treats at Rock Da Casbah, complimentary refreshments at Montano’s shoe store, spiked cider and hot toddy at Meraki Boutik, a hot cocoa bar and other specialties at 32 Partition Street, complimentary goody bags at Capsulte Collection and holiday treats at Smith’s Hardware. That’s just a partial list of what shops in the village were offering, the Chamber of Commerce noted in a holiday flier.
In addition, many Saugerties stores offered discounts on the day of the celebration.
It may not have been a ride in Santa’s sleigh, but the line of kids waiting for a ride in Ray Mayone’s horse-drawn wagon stretched for several blocks.
The village’s decorated tree was lit up at 5 p.m., as the drawing on multiple gifts, a charity fundraiser sponsored by Bob Siracusano, ended. While the light switch was in the middle of a large crowd, unlike some previous years where one of the village children threw the switch, the lights on the tree and menorah just came on as the crowd counted down from ten.
A second tree lighting and reading of The Night Before Christmas sponsored by the Kiwanis followed at Seamon Park. After the tree lighting, awards were presented for the decorated fire trucks.
Join the family! 
