MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ — Friends and families, along with Santa Claus and caroling Girl Scouts, came out for the Mountainside Recreation Department’s 35th annual Christmas tree–lighting ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 4 at Borough Hall, followed by a festive evening of ice skating at nearby Westfield Rink in Gumbert Park.
“Today, we had our annual tree-lighting, in which the Girl Scouts came to sing, the rescue squad donated cookies and hot chocolate to everyone, Santa comes on the fire truck, and then, after the tree-lighting, we have our annual ice skate night for the Mountainside residents,” Mountainside Recreation Assistant Director Samantha Grindlinger said on Saturday, Dec. 4. “The Mountainside Recreation Department sponsors the admission for all the residents for ice skating and then the rescue squad donated the cookies and hot chocolate, and Santa was provided by the Mountainside Fire Department. This is our 35th year of doing this. Last year, we were unable to have people in attendance because of COVID, so we were just excited to get back to everything. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work, and we just hope that all the kids had a blast today, just like they used to. Frank Masella is a huge part of it, and he’s the recreation director. Paul Mirabelli, who is the mayor, comes and does the address and a lot of other work as well, and a few of the council members as well.
“The tree-lighting was a pretty good turnout. Pre-COVID, it was always a lot bigger. I think some people are a little hesitant to come out still, but they’ll be able to watch and enjoy it from home, because of Channel 35 coming out,” she continued. “The turnout here at the skating rink is pretty good tonight. Capacity for the Westfield Rink is 150 right now and we usually go to the Union rink. This is a little closer, and we wanted to try it out. So, we’re happy with the turnout.
“I think everyone had a blast tonight,” Grindlinger added. “This is just a little bit of normalcy, especially with everything that’s coming back into play with COVID. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the next couple of months, so let’s give the kids a bit of normalcy for the holidays.”
Councilman Steven Matejek, who was also in attendance to witness holiday festivities, spoke fondly of the free skating event.
“The turnout has been pretty good. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the event because of COVID (last year), but this year, we have a full crowd, which is similar to pre-COVID levels,” said Matejek on Saturday, Dec. 4. “With the tree-lighting, which was hosted by the mayor and council, we had local vendors string lights for us on the tree, and our department of recreation set up the tree-lighting event and also arranged with this facility to host the town.
“I think this event has been great. I’ve done this for many years, and it’s really great to get back to some normalcy. The turnout has been great. I see a lot of families, a lot of kids skating at all levels — some people who are new at skating and some who are experienced at skating, and I see people skating with their families. It’s really great to see this. Next year, I hope we have an even larger turnout.”
Mountainside resident Cheryl Isbirian brought her two children and other loved ones out for Mountainside’s holiday festivities. Feeling the Christmas cheer of the event, Isbirian said she hopes that next year’s festivities draws a much larger crowd than this one, assuming COVID-19 subsides.
“We are at the traditional free ice skating event that happens after the Mountainside tree-lighting and it’s super fun. The kids get together, it gets them outside of the house to socialize, which is nice to have a sense of normalcy,” Isbirian said on Saturday, Dec. 4. “I really like this event being held in Westfield. Somehow, it feels like we are supporting our sister town, sort of, and I like that it’s a little bit of a smaller environment. Mountainside is really taking over the ice and having a blast.
“For next year, I hope all of this returns the same way that it has begun to this year and that we have the tree-lighting, even more people attend and more people feel comfortable,” she added. “It’ll be an even greater attendance because of that.”
Photos by EmilyAnn Jackman