11th Stroll & Shop begins at 2

Published in the December 5, 2019 edition.

WAKEFIELD — The town’s 11th Annual ‘Tis the Season Holiday Stroll and Shop kicks off Saturday at 2 p.m.

As always, this edition of the Stroll promises something for everyone. Hosted by the Wakefield Community Partnership with the help of many sponsoring merchants, the Stroll allows everyone to walk the Square, enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of the holidays and to shop at local businesses.

Get your favorite winter hat decorated and drag out your ugliest sweater because there will be judged contests for both. Judging begins at 1:30 p.m. in the Drill Hall of the Americal Civic Center.

Then the annual Hat Parade steps off from the Civic Center at 2 p.m., heading north on Main Street into the Square. At the end of the parade at the Beebe Library plaza, the winners of the Hat and Ugliest Sweater contests will be announced and will receive a gift card to one of the town’s fine restaurants.

With that, the Stroll will be on!

The award-winning Wakefield Memorial High School Marching Band will perform at the library. Members of local dance studios will also do some great routines there. After the dancers, the a cappella groups She Major and Voice of Steel will have Stroll-goers getting into the full spirit of the season.

At the East Boston Savings Bank on Main Street, a caricature artist will draw your picture from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and then the Memory Laners will perform from 4 to 6.

Betty’s Bounce, always a hit, will play at The Savings Bank from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

At the Co-Operative Bank across the street, the high school’s Orchestra Group will entertain crowds from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and from 5 to 6, Caroline Lieber and her string students will take center stage.

At alano’s, the Main Street department store, a face painter and balloon artist will show off their talents beginning at 3 p.m.

Outside Brother’s restaurant, students from the Onset School of Music will entertain from 3 p.m. to 4:14, following by a Christmas sing-along with Valerie Giglio and Lily Antonini.

Don Hodgkins will lead members of local church choirs during a performance at the Brightview Senior Living facility on Crescent Street from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., followed by the always-entertaining Middlesex Concert Band at 4:30 p.m.

While all this is going on, there will be a Roaming Railroad on Albion Street, the Merry Dickens Carolers will be perform and Santa Claus is expected to make a surprise appearance — taking time from an extremely busy schedule — between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

There will be trolley rides available as well.

In addition, you can visit booths set up in the Square. Participants include the Department of Children and Families; Post Academy; Restoration Road Church; Wakefield Veterans Services; Wakefield Memorial High Lacrosse Boosters; Boy Scouts; Hartshorne House; Dolbeare School PTO; Woodville School PTO, and Relay for Life.

None of this would be possible without the generous support of Wakefield’s merchants. They are: alano, Boardwalk Real Estate, Brightview Senior Living, Broco Oil, Brother’s, Catch the FUNk!, Christopher J. Barrett Realtors, Dance Studio of Wakefield, Dance Track Studio, East Boston Savings Bank, First Financial Trust, Florence’s Fashions, Gone to the Dogs, Hart’s Hardware, Holiday Travel, Independent Concrete, Keith’s Tree Service, Northshore Numismatics, North Star Realtors, Public Kitchen, Restoration Road Church, Sakura Organic, Sweet Balance Yoga, Sweetbay Shop, The Savings Bank, The T Stop, The UPS Store, Wakefield Co-operative Bank, Wakefield Custom Dental and Wakefield Jewelers.