The Holiday Season in Bridgeton
By Albert B. Kelly
December is all about
getting into the holiday frame of mind and here in Bridgeton we have a few
things that can help us get there. The month of December gets started with the
Holiday House Tour on December 5th.
Featuring some of the best
our historic district has to offer, the house tour lets guests take in some of
our beautiful Victorian housing, decked out for Christmas, in various locations
around the community. Because of the size and nature of our historic district,
the tour is divided into east and west.
The tour east of the
Cohansey River will run from 1:00pm to 5:00pm, while the portion of the tour on
the west side of the Cohansey will run from 3:00pm to 7:00pm. To add to the
holiday spirit, there will be a free horse-drawn wagon ride on the west side.
The cost for the tour,
including the horse-drawn wagon ride, is $20. Not a bad price considering that
there are upwards of 20 homes, all of them on the State and National Register
of Historic Places. Owners work hard decorating and are gracious in opening
their homes for guests. If you are interested in tickets or finding out more
details, contact Bridgeton Main Street at (856) 453-8130
In addition to the house
tour, Bridgeton will host the Festival of Lights, which takes place of over
successive days with a fantastic display of holiday lights at the Cohanzick Zoo
and along Mayor Aitkin Drive. This year, Festival of Lights will take place on
December 3rd, 4th and 5th, from 4:00pm to 8:00pm.
In addition to the
decorative lighting, there will be an appearance by Santa for the kids,
Christmas caroling, holiday and movie displays, craft and food vendors, and a
Tree of Remembrance as a way for to honor and remind us of those who can’t be
with us this holiday season. To find out more, you can contact the Bridgeton
Recreation Office at (856) 453-1675.
As we all know, the
Christmas season is partly about gifts and everyone will be out shopping and
looking for those special things for family and friends. But have you ever
considered making gifts or ornaments instead of buying them?
Making a gift is easy now
in Bridgeton with 3-D printing, laser cutting, etching and other tech tools.
Maybe your gift is a song and all you need is the recording studio.
It’s easy because this
holiday season Bridgeton is proud to have the Cumberland County College
satellite makerspace known as “Steamworks” up and running in downtown at 46-50
E. Commerce Street. Located next to Gallery 50, Steamworks is open Tuesday- Saturday
from 12 noon to 7:00pm.
Get a couple of hours of
instruction on how to operate these tech tools from a Steamworks mini-course
and you’ll be on your way to making a personalized gift for a friend or family
member. Pick out a design to send to the 3-D printer and you can have something
custom made.
If your gift is song,
whether going solo or maybe with your church choir, you can book some studio
time for a reasonable price (including the engineer) and run off the finished
CD as a gift. You can’t get more personal than your own song when it comes to
gift giving.
Steamworks is a way to do
something different and special by way of a gift or an ornament; at the same
time you help support the college satellite program as it gets rolling in our
downtown.
Next door to Steamworks,
Gallery 50 will offer “First Friday” Holiday Shopping on December 4th
that will feature beautiful gifts, crafts, and art for the holiday season. As
with all their “First Friday” events, Gallery 50 is always worth a visit.
Finally, the Bridgeton
Public Library will be in full swing for the holidays with Teen Holiday Tree
Decorating (December 2,9,16, and 23rd), Photos with Santa (December
5th), and building a Gingerbread house (December 12).
This is in addition to BPL’s
Lego Club (December 19), Teen Winter Party (December 22), Teen game night
(December 8) and preschool story time. Contact the Bridgeton Library at (856)
451-2620 for more information on their hours.
All told, the holidays are
a special time in Bridgeton…even more so when you’re here to enjoy it all with
us. So here’s to seeing you in December.