Belle Vernon welcomes holiday season with Light-Up Night
The festivities had to be moved indoors due to Friday’s cold weather.
Belle Vernon’s annual Light-Up Night on Friday was full of seasonal fun and joy.
Held at Belle Vernon Fire Company’s social hall instead of J.E. “Ted” Kuhn Community Park due to the cold weather, the event featured hot cocoa, Christmas desserts and of course, a visit from Santa Claus – which sent the more 100 people who attended into cheers.
The event is a long-standing tradition, according to fire company president Jack Saxberg, who said he’s been coming to it for as long as he can remember.
“We do this every year,” Saxberg said. “I have been doing this for 50 years. We have it here because of the weather, but it’s a great event every year.”
His son, fire chief Richard Saxberg, said he has been helping with this event for 43 years.
“We’ve been doing this a long time,” Richard said. “Seeing all the kids, that’s what it’s all about.”
The event was held in partnership with the borough, the fire company and the Faith Assembly church in Belle Vernon.
Pastor David Reed has been with the church for two years, and its main campus is in Uniontown.
“Our mission statement is reaching people to reach a purpose in Christ in community,” Reed said. “That’s just our heart. We want to partner with community events, and we want to partner with what God’s already doing.”
Performing at the event were the Mon Valley Cloggers, who are based out of Elizabeth and practice at the fire hall. They danced to Christmas favorites while dressed for the season.
“We do it for them just as a courtesy because they let us practice here for free,” assistant director Candy Topp said. “It is a fun event to do every year for the kids.”
There was also a raffle for baskets that had Ninjas, a griddle, a meat and cheese arrangement and a pool supplies basket.
A long line filled the fire hall to see Santa as many kids walked up to the decorative set in the fire hall where Santa sat. Children received gift bags with a plastic fire hat, money, gift cards from a donor and more.
Marissa Hazlett, who is originally from Belle Vernon, said she wanted to bring her children, Graham, 7, and Isla, 3, to see Santa this year. She said Graham asked Santa for a VR headset and Isla wants a Barbie Dream House.
“I’ve been coming here since I was little,” Hazlett said. “We don’t miss it. We come every year. It’s a nice event.” Mayor Gerald Jackson and Councilman Cliff Gorski were among the local officials at the event with their families. Jackson said it’s a family tradition.
“I have been coming to this event since I was a kid,” Jackson said. “It’s a long tradition. It’s been a family tradition for years. We have people that come, their families are here and they come back. We enjoy it, and we have a tendency to give back into the community.”
