Chamber Gears Up for Annual Holiday Celebration

The Babylon Village Chamber of Commerce is gearing up for one of its most popular events and merchants will be busy putting final decorating touches on storefronts and displays this week for Friday’s annual Old Fashioned Village Christmas event.

Chamber members are finalizing Santa’s travel route during the four-hour event that draws hundreds of holiday shoppers to the downtown business district. Santa will travel in his usual sleigh and stop at various spots during the event to give parents the opportunity to get a photo of children with Jolly St. Nick.

There’ll be live music throughout the village business district courtesy of many local and school music groups and store owners have a rare opportunity to pipe holiday music outside stores during the month given a reprieve of a code ordinance that typically prohibits outdoor music.

“We are looking forward to a fantastic event,” chamber president Jon Taylor said at the group’s monthly meeting Tuesday night at the American Legion Hall. “We’re going to have a great night.”

The business group is also putting the final touches on a new slate of officers for the next year. Taylor will be stepping down from his role but moving into another board position. The final officer slate will be determined at the start of the new year.

In other local business news, renovations began last week on the former Armadillo Grill as new owners are revamping the interior design and will reopen as Tidewater Grill & Tavern.

Given the success of the Small Business Saturday program, sponsored by American Express, the chamber is considering forming a special committee to hold a special ‘small business day” shopping event next year.