Old Fashioned Christmas Village Time Nears

There is just about 48 hours until Babylon Village transforms into an Old Fashioned Christmas Village, complete with Santa on a horse-driven sleigh, special store discounts and goodies and holiday music filling the air along Main Street and Deer Park Avenue.

The event, sponsored each year by the Babylon Village Chamber, is in its 18th year, and as Chamber President Jon Taylor succinctly describes it, it's a "biggie" for the community and business district.

"The kids love Santa, and people love walking around and checking out favorite stores and the new stores," says Taylor.

The four-hour event, which kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday, December 3, also represents the village's own "Black Friday" opportunity, say merchants.

Shops will be offering special sales in celebration. Both new and longtime customers stop by, say business owners, because it's such a festive and fun event.

"We see a lot of new shoppers stopping in for the first time," says Danielle Sachi, at Roomors, a home and gift store. "They come in and look around and see what we have and then often come back the next week or so to do their shopping," she explains.

Pandemonium owner Jacqueline DiDonato says the annual event is always one of the store's busiest days.

"Every year there is a nice amount of shoppers who stop in, and many times if it's their first visit they'll be back before the holidays," says DiDonato.  Her store will be offering a 20% discount off clothing and 10% off all other items during the shopping event.

The Chamber's preparations for the event started back in late summer, as it organized the various musical groups, arranged for Santa's transportation and began getting marketing materials in development.

The musical program includes instrumentalists and vocalists from local schools, churches and village residents.

"It just provides an amazing holiday ambiance," says Taylor.

The village administration is even giving its own early holiday gift that night, and every night through December 26th. Village parking meters will be covered and complimentary parking will be provided.

If you miss Santa Friday night, you'll have a few more chances to tell him your wish list in the next two weeks.

Santa will be traveling around the village courtesy of a Babylon Fire Department truck on Saturday, December 11 from noon to 3 p.m.

After that village tour, he'll be resting up at Positions Dance Studio from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. where parents can take photos and the following week, on Saturday, December 18th, he'll be sitting for  photos at the Sprint Premier Store from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.