(11/18) Emmitsburg’s Christmas festivities, including a Christmas tree lighting ceremony and "An Evening of Christmas Spirit" held at the Carriage House Inn, has become a town tradition for two and a half decades.
This year’s "An Evening of Christmas Spirit," which has always been held in conjunction with the town tree lighting ceremony, marks the 25th year that the Carriage House Inn holiday event has been formally held.
The community Christmas tree lighting ceremony, held will be held December 2 at 6 p.m., in front of the old four-story, 2 East Main Street, Emmitsburg Hotel.
The public is invited to sing along with Christmas carols that will performed there as well. Santa Clause will be arriving at 6:30 p.m.
The square served as the traditional location for many years for the tree lighting ceremony until the event was moved several years ago to the county Community Center property.
The move from the Town Square was apparently done out of safety concerns due to its proximity to Main Street traffic.
However, one of Mayor Donald Briggs’ campaign promises had been to try and breathe new life back into the square, which included moving the annual Christmas event back to its former location.
Three or four parking spaces in front of the hotel have historically been blocked-off for people to gather, and those spaces will be closed-off once again for the public to gather for the ceremony.
The Carriage House Inn will continue to hold its holiday festivities - "An Evening of Christmas Spirit" – from 7 to 9 p.m., following the tree lighting ceremony at the square.
The inn will be offering free hot dogs, cookies and hot chocolate to the revelers, and will be featuring a live Nativity, entertainment, including choirs and vocalists (in the inn‘s Joann‘s Ballroom), and hayrides. Santa will appear at the Carriage House to partake in the festivities there.
Carriage House Inn owner Bob Hanse said, "It (the inn’s has grown passed me (in magnitude)," he said. "It’s (‘An Evening of Christmas Spirit’) grown to be a town event…really exciting."
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