The holiday spirit is alive and well in Smithtown as Christmas as seasonal preparation were made over the weekend at public venues across the township – all featuring jolly old St. Nick.
At the Patrick R. Vecchio Town Hall Building on Thursday, December 1, town officials gathered on the southeastern corner of town hall to ignite the tree that stands to the southeast of the building, directly aside Main Street. Delayed one day due to profuse rains, the event went off without a hitch as state and local officials welcomed the holidays.
The lighting was accompanied by live performances by local groups such as William T. Rogers Middle School Chorus, Smithtown JV Whisperettes, Hauppauge Kickline, Accompsett Middle School Chorus, Great Hallow Middle School Chorus, Smithtown West Varsity, Commack Varsity Courgarettes, Smithtown Whisperettes, Sara Jean Dance Company, and Smithtown West Jazz Choir.
Supervisor Ed Wehrheim was joined by Councilmembers Thomas Lohmann, Thomas McCarthy,Lynne C. Nowick, and Lisa Inzerillo, Senator Mattera, Legislator Leslie Kennedy, Suffolk County Comptroller John M. Kennedy Jr.
Nesconset
D’Arpa, executive director of the Nesconset Chamber of Commerce;
Santa, Frank Scagluso, secretary of the Nesconset Chamber of Commerce;
Comptroller John M. Kennedy Jr., and Legislator Leslie Kennedy.
The Nesconset Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual tree and Menorah lighting on Sunday, December 4, at the Nesconset Gazebo on the South Side of Smithtown Boulevard. Father Michael Holzmann of Parish of the Holy Cross and Rabbi Motti Grossbaum of Chabad of Stony Brook/ Lake Grove blessed the Christmas Tree and Menorah, respectively.
From the Nesconset Chamber of Commerce, Town Clerk Vinny Puleo, president; Frank Scagluso, secretary; and Rachel D’Arpa, executive director; were joined by Senator Mario Mattera, Comptroller John Kennedy and Legislator Leslie Kennedy to celebrate the occasion.
Smithtown High School East’s Chamber Choir and Great Hollow Middle School’s Kickline Team gave performances that wowed the crowd – a crowd that was able to peruse many of the sponsors at the event.
State Farm’s Katlin Handley had hot chocolate set up. Another sponsor, Norma Dispenza of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, also had a table, along with Dawn Viola of Coldwell Bankers.
Other event sponsors included attorney John Zollo, Nicholas Morreale of Premier Market, John Mangione, John Lopresti with Cardinal Financial, Valerie Pierre of the Hamlet Rehabilitation, Michael Holdorf Jr. of Saf-T-Swim, Roy Franks of Fitness 4 You, and Nicole Ross of New York Life.
Smithtown Library
Preliminary reports indicate that Santa is soon to release a Christmas reading list, but in the meantime, he was spotted at the Smithtown Special Library District’s Main Branch on Friday, December 2.
A school-aged choir accompanied the lighting.
Children and their families were given the opportunity to take photos with Santa. Still, further events, both secular and religious, will be held as we are also approaching Chanukah, which will be celebrated from December 18 to December 26.
