Honesdale for the holidays

HONESDALE, PA — Historic Honesdale will ring in the 2008 holiday season on Friday and Saturday, November 28 and 29 with its annual Honesdale for the Holidays.

Many of Honesdale’s fine stores will host an open house with seasonal hospitality for their shoppers and visitors. The Fred Miller Pavilion on Main Street will be alive with holiday music on both days, with DJ Tom Emanski from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. sponsored by RE/MAX Wayne and Meagher Auction Services.

Friday will also feature Honesdale’s annual Santa Parade. The parade, which kicks off at 6:00 p.m., starts at Main and 4th streets, proceeds up Main Street, turns right on 10th Street, and proceeds to Central Park. Activities in Central Park immediately after the parade will include the lighting of the newly brightened star on Irving Cliff, the lighting of the Christmas tree in the park, and Christmas carols, all under Santa’s supervision. There will be time for the children to visit with Santa after the festivities.

On Saturday, November 29, old-fashioned horse-drawn carriage rides will depart from the corner of Main and 10th Streets (in front of the First National Community Bank) from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. Santa and his buddy Rudolph will be strolling streets, and just may have a special treat for that good little boy or girl. Some characters straight out of a Dickens’s story will also be roaming the streets: the dancers of Top Hats & Lace.

The Stourbridge Model Railroad Club will also host an open house on Saturday, November 29 in the Grace Episcopal Parish Hall at 827 Church Street from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Model Railroad Club has created a large HO gauge railroad display that depicts the mythical town of “Wayne.”

The newly renovated and expanded Wayne County Historical Society Museum, located at 810 Main Street in the center of town, features a full-scale replica of the famous Stourbridge Lion, the first locomotive to run on a track in America. The museum is open on Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The society will hold its annual open house on Saturday, November 29, beginning at 4:00 p.m. There will be authors on hand to sign books, and the historical society’s annual collectible holiday ornament, as well as many other holiday gifts, will be on sale at its gift store.

The Honesdale for the Holidays weekend will only be the beginning of the fun to be found in town throughout the season. Further details will be printed in The River Reporter in the coming weeks.

For more information call 570/253-5492.