Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The 21st Christmas Extravaganza rang in the season with the traditional lighting of the city’s Christmas tree at Old St. Joe’s, on December 6. Emcee Mayor Richard Beneville brought out reindeer bells, on loan from Jana Varrati, got everybody’s attention and addressed the crowd that had gathered to hear musical performances, the lighting of the tree and see special guest, Santa Claus.
Beneville lead the gathering in singing, “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas” before the light was turned down and the Christmas tree lights were turned on.
Nome High School Choir and the Nome High School Band under the direction of Ron Horner performed, as did Sarah Hanson-Hofstetter and her “Box of Candles” consisting of Dave Coler and Ian McRae. Caroline Proulx and Kristine McRae delighted the crowd with a flute performance. The Nome Community Chorus under the direction of Gabe Colombo sang a few Christmas songs and no Christmas Extravaganza is complete without the Nome Covenant Church kids performing a live Nativity.
Then, finally, the special guest arrived. Santa Claus made his way from the back of Old St. Joe’s to the stage, where curious kids waited to see if he’s the real thing. The children, some with ambiguous feelings about the man in red, stood in line to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him their wish list for Christmas.