Winter Wonderland arrived downtown Saturday as the fourth annual block party organized by the Pelham Chamber of Commerce, bringing together residents to celebrate the holidays along Fifth Avenue
Activities included horse and carriage rides, pony rides, a game truck, carnival games and DJ Ruben, who amplified the holiday spirit with festive tunes. Towards the end of the event, Santa Claus made a grand entrance near the Gazebo to take photos with children.
In addition, booths were scattered along Fifth Avenue, which was closed to traffic from Gazebo Park to the Pelham Art Center. These included Butik Modern General, Patty Pops and Lucy’s Tacos, all on hand with other vendors to celebrate Small Business Saturday, a national event that highlights local businesses and their importance to every town.
Three vendors who participated in Winter Wonderland included:
Lucy Parente’s food truck was stationed near the children’s activities. “One of my best friends does Westchester Pop Stars, and I became interested in coming down here to Winter Wonderland,” said Parente. “My father and mother had a food truck for 30 years located on Fifth Avenue in New Rochelle. I decided to branch out alongside my mother, so now there are two trucks.”
Attendees lined up to try Lucy’s tacos, tortas and horchata.
Yanna Cigenlaub said her background in technology and marketing inspired her to create her business. “Butik means boutique in Danish, so everything we sell is either Scandinavian antique or handmade organic items such as serums and soaps,” Cigenlaub said.
She said her favorite products are the grums, a word meaning coffee grinds in Danish. Grums are all-natural skincare products made of recycled and organic coffee grinds.
Pencil Projects Architectural Studio
Danielle DeVito ran the stand for the Pencil Projects Architectural Studio, a Best of Westchester Winner for 2024. “We’re so excited about Winter Wonderland this year,” she said. “We are all very happy that we got to open up the street from the train station to art center,” said DeVito. “I designed the map, as I am an architecture firm and assist the chamber every year with the map and vendor placement. It’s a lot of fun.”
DeVito said it was amazing to see neighbors and friends kicking off the holiday season together.
As Winter Wonderland came towards its end, children eagerly awaited Santa’s arrival at the Gazebo to photograph the memory. Following the family photos, the Girls Scouts caroled for residents before Santa lit the town Christmas tree.
Chamber of Commerce President Cristina Chianese said, “It’s amazing, and it’s our fourth year doing the event. We originally started in the old bank [200 Fifth Avenue] during Covid-19, and now it has become a tradition for Pelham.” This year marked the largest event to date. Although it was stressful to organize, Chianese had numerous helping hands, including Stephanie Royce, Melissa Flynn, Amy Platt, Miranda Bucciero, Jess Landau and DeVito.
Winter Wonderland received sponsorships and support from Ball Chain Manufacturing, Logo Tags, Meridian Risk Management, Pencil Projects, Flour Power Bakery, Pelham Funeral Home, Treehouse Play Place, the Hudson Valley MCA, the Courtien families of C&B Plumbing & Heating, the Royce family of J&S Mechanical, Kelly and Micheal at Lamy Graphics, Steve Madey of the Pelham Children’s Center and Manor Auto.
