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H-F holiday season filled with festivities

It will be difficult to be bored during the coming holiday season in Homewood and Flossmoor, according to Flossmoor Events Manager Stephanie Wright.

That’s by design.

Event coordinators Marla Youngblood of Homewood, Stephanie Wright of Flossmoor and Jennah Carlson of the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District have led the development of a slate of events and activities that will give area residents of all ages plenty to do until the new year.

Carlson said the park district activities are intended to help people renew their sense of community and take some respite from the stresses of the year.

“The bigger sense of community, the togetherness feel, taking some time to breathe, getting everyone together to feel warm and fuzzy” is what the events try to provide, she said.

Wright said the event coordinators worked closely together to plan the season’s events.

“You start idea sharing and collaborating. That’s where the real magic happens,” she said. “Over the next six weeks we have an array of opportunities that reach almost every single age group in the villages.”

Flossmoor launched its holiday activities with the annual visit from Santa Claus and tree-lighting ceremony on Nov. 26. And that was just the beginning.

The next big festival is on Friday, Dec. 2. Homewood Holiday Lights Festival will light up the downtown area from 5 to 9 p.m.

The festival will include a carousel, the popular holiday mugs for sale, community groups, vendors and a chance to get some holiday shopping done in downtown stores.

There will also be ice carvings, trackless train rides, holiday music performed by a brass band.

Reindeer were unavailable to visit this year, but the village has arranged for characters Elsa, Anna and Olaf from the Disney movie “Frozen” to be on hand to mingle with the crowd.

A parade of decorated antique cars and Homewood Disposal’s decorated Wendy the Waste Truck will be followed by a Homewood fire truck that will deliver Santa Claus to Irwin Park in the 1800 block of Ridge Road.

Santa will flip the switch in the annual park district tree-lighting ceremony at 7 p.m. and then visit with children and families in the Irwin Park gazebo until 8:45 p.m. There will also be an opportunity for kids to make reindeer food from 6 to 9 p.m.

Everyone who walks from downtown to the park will be able to enjoy ballet performances in the windows of the American Dance Center, 1933 Ridge Road.

On Dec. 1 and Dec. 8, the Flossmoor Business Association will host open house events. The Dec. 1 event will feature downtown shops and will include a luminary display in Flossmoor Park, part of the Flossmoor Service League charity fundraiser. Donors can sponsor luminaries for the park or can purchase them for display as part of home decorations.

The Dec. 8 event will feature Flossmoor Commons stores.

On Saturday, Dec. 3, from 3 to 6 p.m., Janet Gustafson will offer tours of her annual gingerbread village display. Registration is required at bit.ly/3OoyOsp. Gustafson creates an elaborate gingerbread scene in her home every year. She also composes a poem to go along with the theme of the display.

On Dec. 10, Homewood will host Miracle on Martin from 3 to 6 p.m. on Martin Square just north of Ridge Road. The event features making s’mores and taking horse-drawn carriage rides.

Also on Dec. 10, Flossmoor Public Library will host a holiday musical performance by Nanny Nikki at 11 a.m.

Two events that first emerged during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic will continue.

One is the Santa driveway visits sponsored by the park district from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 12 to 14. There are 20 visits available. Sign up at bit.ly/3EZi6wG.

On Dec. 15 at 4:30 p.m. Flossmoor festively decorated public works, police and fire vehicles will parade through the village.

“There is so much that was bad about COVID, but there’s these tiny little pieces of joy,” Wright said. “The parade born out of COVID is here to stay. It’s becoming a cherished tradition.”

Flossmoor’s candle-lighting ceremonies will again offer an opportunity to celebrate Hannukah and Kwanzaa, with community members serving as candle-lighters at 5 p.m. each day from Dec. 18, the start of Hannukah, to Jan. 1, the end of Kwanzaa. This year, the two holidays will overlap on one day, Dec. 26.

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