During a chilly Saturday after Thanksgiving, hundreds of people filled Winstanley Park to enjoy Greenwood Lake’s annual Holiday Festival and Tree Lighting Ceremony, while dozens of participating food and craft vendors helped to warm the crowd.
Several live performances in the adjacent pavilion entertained the attendees with live music and dance until dark when Mayor Tom Howley addressed the crowd from the stage. He reminded everyone that, were it not for the hundreds of firefighters from several states (including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Montana and Colorado), dozens of fire and police departments, numerous state and county agencies, plus critical provisions and logistics from local food providers and restaurants, they would not have been able to have such a holiday celebration as they were having today. Howley read off the names of many of the restaurants and individuals who had stepped up to the challenge of feeding and providing for many of the out-of-town firefighters as well as those who traveled to Greenwood Lake from distant communities elsewhere in New York and nearby states. Surrounded by members of the Village Board, he continued with a heartfelt thanks to those who had helped to put the Festival together and allowed residents to continue to enjoy a safe holiday season.
Howley’s address to the festival-goers was followed by the kids choir who sang a couple of Christmas carols and the Sheahan-Gormley School of Irish Dance who performed with a smaller group, as many of the troupe’s dancers were out-of-town during a state-wide competition. Finally the award-winning Meistersingers vocal group from Warwick Valley High School, under the direction of Noreen Hanson, entertained the crowd with a few selections from their holiday repertoire. The Meistersingers have performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and other notable venues throughout the region. The group led the countdown to the lighting of the Christmas tree to the delight of all attendees, then immediately after the tree lighting, performed a final song to end the event.
Greenwood Lake residents have had a momentous year, beginning with its Centennial marking the 100th anniversary of its formation as an incorporated village in the State of New York in 1924, several events throughout the spring and summer, including a spectacular fireworks display in July, numerous historical events, and serious challenges from Mother Nature that involved a series of microbursts during May which felled trees and damaged many properties on both sides of the lake. Finally in early November Village residents were again tested with a brush fire that began in the New York side of Sterling Forest and eventually spread to over 5,000 acres in both New York sand neighboring New Jersey that claimed the life of a 17-year-old firefighter, until it was finally contained a few days before Thanksgiving, without damaging any homes or injuring anyone else.
The Village of Greenwood Lake [GWLNY.org] is Orange County’s largest fresh water lake and has continued to welcome visitors from all over the region as a place to vacation for days or months or as a place to live. As local author, Jane Anderson, wrote in Chronogram, “Despite the area’s growth from an indigenous home to a hotspot for bars, restaurants, and primary and second homes, the central focus remains the picturesque lake that asks nothing more than simply to be enjoyed.”
Photo credits: Peter Lyons Hall
