Girl Scouts hang ornaments they made from the holiday tree, which is located on the corner of Springfield and North Union avenues.
CRANFORD, NJ — On Friday, Nov. 25, Cranford Chamber of Commerce held its annual holiday event. At 11 a.m. Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors decorated the holiday tree on the corner of Springfield and North Union avenues. The Cranford Jaycees provided hot chocolate to keep everyone warm while they waited for their troop to be called to the tree. The girls waited patiently as they gathered with their troops and brought the ornaments they made to hang on the tree.
“I’m decorating the tree with ornaments I made in girl scouts,” Elah Allbritton, of Cranford, told LocalSource. “I painted a gingerbread man and star because both of them are associated with Christmas. I’m going to come back later to see Santa Claus. I decorated the tree last year when I was a Daisy. I wanted to hang my ornament high on the tree so everyone could see it, but I almost fell trying to climb up high enough.”
The girls decorated different ornaments depending on their girl scout troop. There was even a lot of variety between the ornaments from the same troop.
“I made my jingle bell ornament from paper cups and painted them red,” said Adelena Payne, of Cranford. “I decorated them with green glitter. Red and green are Christmas colors so that’s why I decided on those two colors.”
Another girl from the same Brownie Troop made her bells using another material and painted them different colors.
“I made my jingle bell ornament from styrofoam cups,”Alexa Ohlson, of Cranford, told LocalSource in an interview. “I decorated them with red glitter for the holiday season.”
Both the girls participated in the event as Brownies last year also. After the tree was finished being decorated, the festivities resumed at 1 p.m. with a face painter and balloon maker. There was a moonwalk and a horse drawn wagon ride, which were all sponsored by different community members. These events ran until 4 p.m.
The Celebration Singers performed by the holiday tree, followed by the High School Madrigals and the Brass Ensemble. Santa arrived for the lighting of the tree at 6 p.m. escorted by the Cranford Fire Department.
Members of the Chamber of Commerce were available to take photos of children with Santa. Each child received a candy cane and each family received an American Express “Small Business Saturday” canvas bag containing information and coupons for many local businesses.
Santa’s mailbox will be open at the Post Office from Nov. 21 to Dec. 20. Santa will reply to each letter he receives. Each letter is required to have a return address so that Santa can respond.