Pennington to hold 40th annual Holiday Walk

Pennington’s Annual Holiday Walk – in its 40th year – will once again bring residents together to celebrate community and the holiday spirit.

Residents and visitors will be able to enjoy cookies and beverages, the arrival of Santa who is hitching a ride with the Pennington Fire Department, ice carving and other holiday activities from 6-9 p.m. Dec. 6.

Main Street between Lanning and Borough Hall, and Delaware Avenue between Eglantine Avenue and Burd Street will be closed from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. for the walk.

Chris Murphy, owner of The Front Porch and chair of the Holiday Walk for the past three years, said they are very excited for the holiday walk, which has been made possible with a very small working committee.

She spotlighted the work of Andy Hamlin, Michelle Needham, Larissa Kelsey, Brit West, Jason Meyer, and Erwin Harbat at the Borough Council’s Dec. 2 meeting.

“The support we have gotten from the community, the amazing support from the Pennington Fire Department that basically said to me whatever you want us to do we will do just goes to speak to what this whole town is about,” Murphy said.

“Last year, we were very proud of ourselves. We were able to buy a menorah so on Dec. 6 at around 6 p.m. when the big guy (Santa) comes in on that fire truck thanks to the wonderful fire department we will end up doing a countdown and be lighting the menorah and the tree at the same time.”

Pennington Business and Professionals Association, which plans and presents the annual walk, is also planning later this month for Hanukkah the turning off the menorah at 5 p.m. on Dec. 25.

“We feel there are enough people in the area that they will want to come out and join in on this wonderful community effort,” Murphy said.

During the Pennington Holiday Walk there will be a welcome at Howe Commons on 65 South Main St. at 6 p.m., the arrival of Santa and the tree and menorah lighting are expected to occur at 6:15 p.m., followed by photos with Santa at 6:45 p.m.

From 6:30 p.m. through the evening, there will be ice carving with John Goeke, who has been involved with Hopewell Valley Arts Council, caroling by the Hopewell Valley Girl Scouts, music a Mischief Studios, entertainment at the Pennington Studio for Dance, and live music with Mike Tussay.

Additionally, there will be activities at Pennington Methodist Church and Pennington Presbyterian Church.

“I thought that this is a fundamentally important event for Pennington because it encapsulates what we are as a community,” said Andy Hamlin, a member of Pennington Economic Development Commission and temporary treasurer of the Holiday Walk.

The Pennington Holiday Walk is solvent this year, according to Hamlin.

The budget for the walk this year increased from $12,000 to $14,000 with the addition of a new Christmas Tree.

“And as of this writing, we have just a touch over $14,000 in gifts and pledges, which is terrific. I also wanted to say that there are changing giving patterns for the support of the holiday walk,” Hamlin said. “In the past it has always been exclusively businesses but this year however we reached out in other ways to the larger community.”

Forty-two businesses have given about 70% of what they raised, and 59 individuals have given the rest of the 30% or $4,400 for the walk, Hamlin explained.

“That was the result of a fundraising effort we did through PayPal to the local community who supported our $1,700 new tree in Howe Commons, he said. “That was funded in just a few days and Betty Sterling (Borough Clerk) helped us put out a message to the broader community and that brought in an additional $2,000.

“Fifty-three of the people that gave had never given before which tells me anyway that there is a lot of interest in this. We had a lot of wonderful comments that came back with – ‘This is great,’ ‘This is a small town at its best,’ ‘This is a wonderful community gathering,’ ‘Happy to support it.’

“I think to have 59 people come out who have never given and get one email and decide to give gives a good indication of how important the holiday walk is to the community,” Hamlin added.