Slippery Rock kicks off the Holiday Season with its annual Light Up Night
Slippery Rock hosted its annual Light Up Night and Christmas Market, an event that brings the community and local businesses together for a night of activities, music and lights.
The streets were packed with families, lights, special characters and local businesses.
Despite the cold weather, families stayed warm from the hot chocolate and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows at the volunteer fire company booth.
The annual tradition, hosted by Slippery Rock Development and the Slippery Rock Business Association, provides residents with an opportunity to celebrate and support small and local businesses before the holidays.
Vendors, such as The Crafty Girl and Rockabye Blankets, were new to the event.
“This event continues to grow each year as people spread the word. Chris Green, owner of Rockabye Blankets, said, “A friend of mine recommended coming here because of the amazing people.”
Silver Maple Ceramics is a returning vendor owned by Troy Parish, a teacher at Slippery Rock High School. All of his pieces are homemade and he draws inspiration from real life. The name of his business comes from the silver maple tree in Grove City near his home.
“When I was growing up, I liked climbing trees every day,” he said. “So, you’ll see a lot of leaves in my work that are native to Pennsylvania.”
One of the highlights of this event for Parish is seeing his former students.
“It’s really cool to connect with some of my previous students,” he said.
The event, from 4 to 7 p.m., allowed visitors to gather along Main Street to play games, browse vendors and watch the tree lighting ceremony.
Families embarked on a trolley ride up and down Main Street on the North Country Express, a holiday staple for the event. Children lined up to meet their favorite characters, such as Santa Claus, Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman, which helped cultivate the Christmas spirit.
Ashley Jeannerat and her family have been coming here for the past few years. The reason they continue to come is for the community and the atmosphere.
“The kids get excited and they get to see their friends,” she said. “It’s nice because life kind of calms down for a bit.”
Not only were the streets filled with people, but pets as well. Many families and businesses included their dogs in the holiday fun.
For some families, the event is the start of a new Christmas tradition.
Chad Beachem came with his wife and two daughters for the first time. For Beachem, the highlight of his night is spending time with his friends and family.
“We’ll definitely be back,” said Beachem.
All night long children played games such as snowball toss, snow-pong and candy cane horseshoe toss. After playing each game, the children would earn tickets that would be entered into a special prize drawing.
