Downtown Port Gets in the Spirit Saturday with Christmas Event

Port Washington's annual event Saturday will feature the traditional yearly parade, a longer fireworks show and several family activities.

With about half of the roughly $6,000 event sponsored by the Port Washington Main Street Program, many of the activities are sponsored by local businesses.

"This is a family event," Main Street Executive Director Sara Grover said. "It brings people downtown to really get a sense of what their downtown has to offer, especially in a busy shopping season."

Grover said about 90 percent of businesses will stay open that night, and many will offer special sales and promotions.

"We're such a walkable downtown that even when it's cold, it's nice that businesses are friendly and welcoming people in," Grover said. "It's not a big box store Christmas."

The activities will run from 3 to 6 p.m., when there will be a tree-lighting, parade and fireworks.

The tree-lighting will be at the corner of Jackson and Franklin streets. The parade will start directly afterward, heading down Franklin to Grand Street, then over to Milwaukee Street.

With over 40 entries, the parade will be marshalled by a teacher and student selected by the Main Street program for their community engagement, integrity and spirit. The teacher, Kourtney Wojcik, teaches special education at . The student, Rachel Corgiat, is a fourth-grader at Dunwiddie.

The subsequent fireworks show, sponsored by , is the only winter fireworks show in the county, Grover said, and will be longer this year than in years past.

Activities include:

• Strolling musicians and carollers;
• Pictures with Santa at ;
• A live nativity scene with actors and animals outide of ;
• Horse and carriage rides, picking up outside of
• Live reindeer from Reindeer Games for pictures and petting on Franklin and Main streets;
• North Pole scene in the building between the and The Shops of Port Washington on the 200 block of North Franklin Street. Inside, there will be face painting, a photobooth with elf costumes, and a place to mail letters to Santa;
• Outdoor movies playing in the parking lot;
• St. Nick giving out stockings;
• Cookie Decorating at .

Patch will be present at the event, sponsoring the outdoor movies at Beanies and walking in the parade. Please come say, "hi!"