BUTLER TWP — Jack Frost was certainly nipping at people's noses Saturday night, when temperatures hovered just above freezing.

But cold weather and rain didn't stop Santa's Workshop at the Odd Fellows Loop in Alameda Park — and it didn't stop 40 children from seeing Santa.

“This is a brand-new event,” said Tim Calvert, program and aquatics manager for the Butler County Parks and Recreation Department. “We just needed a refresher.”

Santa's Workshop featured holiday crafts, music, treats and sleigh, or rather, wagon rides.

Families were asked to register their children for the event. Thirteen children, according to Calvert, were registered before Saturday, while another 27 attended the event after registering on site.

A $7 registration fee went directly to paying the electricity bill for holiday lights.

“Our goal is to break even,” Calvert said.

Preparing for the event took time and manpower.

The Butler High School Student Council, Girl Scouts and local dairy princesses volunteered at the event.

Parks and recreation department employees spent three weeks hanging lights and installing inflatable Christmas characters around the park to give visitors a local light show.

Part of the reason the department hosted Santa's Workshop, according to Calvert, was to offer locals a “cheap and fun” Christmas event that didn't take them out of the county.

“Something is going on closer to home,” Calvert said. “(Because) not everyone is able to make it down to Pittsburgh.”

The lights and wagon rides were particularly inviting to visitors.

“It just makes it feel magical,” said Lynnette Glaze of Butler, who brought her daughters, Winslow and Perri, to the event.

Perri, who's 5 years old, knew exactly what her favorite part of the event was.

“The music,” Perri said.

“She likes to conduct,” Glaze added.

Three-year-old Winslow loved looking at the Christmas lights. Her favorite color?

“Red,” Winslow said.

Frank Stoops brought the horses that pulled Santa's wagon.

Stoops, who runs Misty Lane Farms Performance Horses with his daughter Mindy, said he was a last-minute addition to Santa's Workshop.

The horse owner who had been scheduled to drive had an accident and couldn't come. Stoops said he was contacted Nov. 17 about filling in.

“We bought the wagon (Sunday) and went to painting it,” Stoops said.

Stoops said Misty Lane Farms plans to stay in the mock sleigh business.

The light display will be up during December, according to Calvert. The parks and recreation department hasn't officially made a visitation schedule, but Calvert said the community is invited to stop by the Odd Fellows Loop.

“They're more than welcome to walk through every night,” Calvert said.