Vandergrift woman planning massive Christmas festival

The goal, Denise Lewandowski-­George says, is to turn all of Vandergrift into a Christmas town like those seen in Hallmark movies.

She pitched the idea to Vandergrift Council during last Monday’s virtual meeting. With the support of the Vandergrift Improvement Program (VIP) and several local businesses, Lewandowski-George has decided to plan a massive Christmas festival for this December — despite the unknowns of the pandemic.

“I’m so excited, I can’t even stand it,” she said. “I’ll be disappointed if we can’t have it, but we’ll just be ready for next year.”

Lewandowski-George first floated her idea for Vandergrift to host a weekend-long festival about three weeks ago on Facebook.

She hasn’t gotten the official approval from the borough yet, but nonetheless she is committed to a plethora of activities over the weekend of Dec. 4-6.

Lewandowski-George, a self-described “Christmas guru,” said she wants there to be constant activity, and she has planned enough events to make that possible.

Throughout the town, she said, there will be horse-drawn carriages, a Christmas tree lot, craft classes and vendors. There will be a scavenger hunt, a breakfast with Santa , a 5K race, a Christmas trivia game, a holiday sweater contest, a gingerbread house contest and many other activities.

She is hoping to gather hundreds of vendors, in addition to food trucks, musicians and carolers.

She said she has gotten interest from almost all of the small businesses and stores in Vandergrift — even given the uncertainty about what life will be like in December.

“We try to participate in as many things in our town as we can,” said Darla Held, owner of Tiny Cause Rescue in Vandergrift, which plans to set up an informational booth and dog adoption during the festival. Held said it is no surprise to see Lewandowski-George take on such a big project, and she is “optimistic” the event will be able to happen in December.

Vandergrift Councilman Lenny Collini was equally enthusiastic. He had talked with Lewandowski-­George about the idea before Monday’s meeting and recommended she pitch it to the rest of council. Collini said council will need to vote to formally approve the event.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” he said. “It does the town justice. It will really liven up the town.”

Lewandowski-George is unfazed by diving into the intense planning of a multi-day event on her own. She said she loves to stay busy, and she thinks the event is something the town needs right now, given current events.

“I feel like people need something motivational and positive to do,” she said. “I just think it would be so much fun.”

Lewandowski-George has dubbed the event the “Vandergrift ‘Back When’ Holiday Extravaganza,” with the nostalgic goal of uplifting local businesses. Each of the activities will be low-cost, she said, and money raised will go toward covering the costs of hosting the event.

“We have a beautiful little town,” she said. “I want to take it back to ‘back in the day,’ when things were happy and festive and things were fun.”

Marilee Kessler, organizations chair at the VIP, said the organization is fully supportive of the idea, understanding that no one can be certain what pandemic restrictions may or may not be in place this December.

“I think we’re kind of with the same thought as Denise,” Kessler said. “We’re all pragmatic and understand sometimes you can’t do what you’d like to do. It’s better to be cautious.”

Kessler said that if the elaborate weekend is deemed impossible, VIP will focus on next year.

“If it turns out that we’re obviously not going to be able to do anything big, then we’ll just have a whole year to plan an even bigger one for 2021,” she said.

The organization recently adapted its annual Art Fest to an online format. Kessler said she can see the same happening with VIP’s regular annual programs if the pandemic persists in the region.

She said it’s important for the organization to find a way to bring people together.

“We need something to feel good and hopeful about. Everybody does,” she said. “I think this just gives a good message of continued commitment to the community, and you know, wanting to see happiness and coming together.”