By the time Councilmember Allan Timms got to the Light Up the Night tree-lighting and performance art spectacle around 5pm on Dec. 7, it was already packed.
“It’s really nice to see so many people and kids,” he said. “It’s a very Scotts Valley event.”
You don’t see community functions like this everywhere, Timms added.
“Of course, Donna was here all day decorating,” he said, referring to the hard work his fellow Council member Donna Lind put into the gathering.
Scotts Valley 7-year-old girl Valeria Blagovestnyy was jazzed by the festivities, describing them as, “Cool.” Her dad, Alex, was having a blast. As was his wife Maria.
“It’s a yearly tradition,” she said, noting the better weather this time. “Last year was so rainy.”
The event was a fundraiser for Valley Churches United, the food pantry that provides gifts to families in need during the holidays.
“We’ve just had an amazing year,” she said. “This holiday season has been really incredible in terms of the generosity of the community.”
In fact, they’ve had a “banner” year at their gift shop in Ben Lomond.
“People know they can get quality things at great prices,” she said. “Tonight’s just another great night of celebrating together.”
At that point, Valley Churches had been preparing to deliver food hampers and readying their Christmas gift delivery route.
“You can just feel the joy together,” she said. “I get to watch the season of gratitude explode. It’s really awesome.”
Brinley Leonard, 3, and Evie-Quinn, 6, of unincorporated Santa Cruz County, got their chance for a photo op with Santa and Mrs. Claus.
They didn’t know it, but Santa has been battling Stage 4 cancer, yet still decided to make the appearance nonetheless.
Dave Hodgin, past district president for the Exchange Club, said their group was sponsoring the event because of the importance of supporting Valley Churches United’s work.
“We had a number of sponsors from the community,” he said. “The Exchange Club’s all about community service.”
It’s the group’s 55th year serving Scotts Valley.
“I’ve been a member for 45 of those years,” he said. “I think the decorations were better this year.”
The youngest member of the audience was a 10-day-old boy.
Olivia Waelty looked on as her fellow Scotts Valley Middle School peers performed routines from their production of “Newsies” with panache.
“I love it,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of effort put into it. All the hard work pays off.”
Jim Fortunato played a couple songs on the accordion.
Donna Lind, like usual, played down her contribution to the event.
“For me it’s exciting to see the kids,” she said, noting she was touched that one gave Santa a work of coloring as a gift. “How cool is that?”
The Police Officers’ Association was also collecting toys. That’s something they’d done in front of Target, too.
Rylan Rossignol was one of the singers who performed multiple songs.
“I think it was an amazing night—and a great night for the community,” she said. “Every year it just keeps getting better and better.”
