A crowd of nearly 300 braved the cool temperatures in Shepard Park last night, Nov. 30, to attend the 16th annual “Lite up the Village” celebration. The event began at dusk with caroling at the park amphitheatre. Rock n’ Roll 101 musician Bobby Dick took the stage at 5 p.m. with a high-energy show of pop Christmas tunes, drawing children to the stage to sing along.
Mayor Robert Blais led the 6 p.m. countdown to the fireworks and lighting, which bathed the park in a stunning display of colored lights. New this year is a fairytale-like woodland display at Blais Park on Beach Road. Village landscape designer Judy Gearwar and her staff created the multi-level scene of blue-lit evergreens and grazing deer in the park surrounding the Visitor’s Center.
Following the fireworks, a Lake George Volunteer Fire Company truck sped north along Canada Street carrying Santa Claus to the firehouse where the crowd gathered for a visit with St. Nick. The Lake George Community Band performed with a concert of traditional Christmas music in the firehouse garage.
The thousands of LED lights will continue to glow each night through New Year’s, and the snowflake street lamps will remain lit through the Lake George Winter Carnival in February.