Winter Wonderland arrived downtown in Pelham on Nov. 30, under the organization of Pelham Chamber of Commerce, bringing together Pelham residents to celebrate the holidays early along Fifth Ave.
A handful of activities were offered such as horse and carriage rides, pony rides, a game truck, carnival games and DJ Ruben who amplified the holiday spirit through festive tunes. Towards the latter end of the event, Santa made a grand entrance near the gazebo, taking photos with children.
In addition to Winter Wonderland’s jolly environment, a handful of booths were scattered across Fifth Ave., such as Butik Modern General, Patty Pops, Lucy’s Tacos and others, to celebrate Small Business Saturday, a national event that acknowledges local businesses and their importance to a town’s community.
Here are a couple of vendors who participated during Winter Wonderland:
Towards the back of Winter Wonderland, Lucy Parente’s food truck is 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, owner of Lucy’s Tacos. “My father and mother had a food truck for 30 years located on Fifth Ave. in New Rochelle. I decided to branch out alongside my mother, so now there is two trucks.”
Residents lined up joyfully to try Lucy’s tacos, tortas, and cultural drinks such as horchata, Jamaica and others.
In the front half of Fifth Ave. is Yanna Cigenlaub, who had a background in technology and marketing which 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.
Cigenlaub’s favorite product would be her grums, or coffee grinds in Danish. Grums are all-natural skincare products made of recycled and organic coffee grinds.
Pencil Projects Architectural Studio
Danielle DeVito can be found handling the Pencil Projects Architectural Studio, a recent Best of Westchester Winner of 2024. “We’re so excited about Winter Wonderland this year. 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 how amazing it is to see neighbors and friends kicking off the holiday season together.
Once the day began wrapping up, children eagerly awaited Santa’s arrival at the gazebo to photograph the memory. Following the family photos, the Girls Scouts caroled away for Pelham residents before Santa lit up the Christmas tree.
President of Pelham Chamber of Commerce Cristina Chianese said, “It’s amazing and it’s our fourth year doing the event. We originally started in the old bank (200 Fifth Ave.) during COVID-19, and now it has become a tradition for Pelham.” This year marked the event’s biggest one to date. Although it was very stressful to organize, Chianese had numerous helping hands such as Stephanie Royce, Melissa Flynn, Amy Platt, Miranda Bucciero, Danielle DeVito, and Jess Landau, who made the event possible.
Chianese is set to step down from her leadership position on Jan. 1 of 2025. “I don’t own a business, but this has been something I’ve loved doing. It’s my third child, as I like to say,” said Chianese. “I know people are worried [the Chamber of Commerce] are going to dissolve, but I actually think in a very fun turn of events, there will be big news of us growing as the chamber.”
Winter Wonderland received sponsorships and support from Manufacturing Inc., Logo Tags, Meridian, 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 Lamy Graphics, Steve Mady of the Pelham Children’s Center, and Manor Auto.
