Scotts Valley officially kicks off its holiday season on Saturday, Dec. 3 with its biggest Christmas Tree Lighting Festival ever.Co-sponsored by the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce and Gateway Bible Church, the event at the Scotts Valley Community Center will feature carriage rides by Clydesdale horses, two entertainment stages, dancers, food, students singing Christmas carols and live bands.As he did in Felton last weekend, Santa will arrive on a firetruck, with plenty of photo opportunities.      The event is from 4 to 7 p.m., and the tree lighting is expected to occur about 6 p.m.

Tree-lighting ceremonies will be held at 5 p.m. tonight, Nov.25. in Boulder Creek, tomorrow, Nov. 26, in Felton, and Dec. 3 in Scotts Valley.

Mornings are easier for hundreds of parents and their school-age children in Boulder Creek.

Mountain Community Theater in Ben Lomond presents the acclaimed play Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz, directed by Peter Gelblum on stage at Ben Lomond’s Park Hall.

Jan Nelson

The Valley Women’s Club and the Monterey Bay Air Resources District again joined this year in honoring young artists in the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District, grades K-12.

Former San Lorenzo High School science standout Zoe Wambaugh took her research expertise on a historical 65-day voyage to the North Pole this summer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy.

An early television pioneer who was a popular performer in Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz Mountains communities in the 1950s is the subject of a new documentary film.