Santa Clarita Lights Up

On November 21, Santa Clarita hosted its annual Light Up Main Street celebration to kick off the holiday season and bring local communities together to Old Town Newhall, a “revitalization area” with a library, shopping, and dining. This celebration allowed organizations like the American Cancer Society to raise funds.

The event had food trucks and performances from local groups including Hart High School and Santa Clarita Master Chorale. As visitors watched, the city council turned on the 23-foot Christmas tree and thousands of lights to transform Old Town’s Main Street into a beautiful winter wonderland with festive lights and music.

“It’s really good,” said Ana Caison, an adult participant, of the event. “My family and I came from Fillmore but we used to live out here. I like that this event makes our town seem like more of a small town because so many people come to celebrate, even though it’s not necessarily a small town.”

Stephanie Marville, a resident, told JSR, “I found it out from the city’s Facebook page. I think it’s just a good opportunity to get together with family and have fun in the community.”

There were also vendors representing the American Cancer Society and the Henry Mayo Hospital.

Mandy Eglseder, an event coordinator for the American Cancer Society, said in an interview with JSR, “I think it’s great that everybody from the community is here.”

Eglseder continued, “We are selling gold holiday luminaria bags and people are giving $15 donations and decorating them in memory of someone that can’t be with them for the holidays. We are lining them up all along the street here so we have a memory wall. There are 4500 or more people participating in this event tonight and we are just so honored that we are able to get the community to have these holiday bags out.”

“These holiday bags are great to bring the community together for them to be able to remember their loved ones. Also it’s for a good cause since the donations go to the American Cancer Society that provides free services and program to cancer patients in Santa Clarita. The bags are actually weighed down with canned food items and those are going to get donated to the Santa Clarita Valley food pantry,” Eglseder added.