Luminary Night gathers holiday cheer in downtown Greensburg

The streets of downtown Greensburg were transformed into a holiday wonderland Thursday evening, complete with elves, cookies, hot chocolate, horse-drawn carriages, a live Nativity , and a visit from Santa for the 54th annual Luminary Night.

Hosted by the nonprofit Greensburg Business and Professional Association, the event gathers local organizations and small businesses to put on a showcase of winter festivities, surrounded by lit artificial candles and bright Christmas lights up and down the streets.

At the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library, the stairwells and hallways were already packed an hour into the event with families eager to participate in holiday games and activities — and waiting to get a glimpse of Santa and Mrs. Claus.

This is the second year that “Winter Wonderland” festivities at the library have stretched across all three floors of the building, said Jessica Kiefer, head children’s librarian at the library.

“Santa’s always a highlight,” she said, noting that last year’s event brought in about 600 people to the library. By 6:15 p.m., more than 430 people had been through the building.

All throughout the downtown area, holiday activities drew in families. Outside the library, musical performers sang festive music, and families lined up to ride in horse drawn-carriages.

“We’ve come for a couple years. (It’s) just wanting to get in to the Christmas spirit and be part of the community — it’s a wonderful event!” said Jana Reese, who waited in line with her two daughters, Natalie and Quinn, to ride in a carriage. “They like shopping — they like going into the shops and just strolling, hearing the music and the lights.”

4 The City Church set up a craft area, where kids could decorate their own ornaments and send handwritten letters to Santa while munching on cookies and enjoying hot chocolate. The crafts were expanded this year, according to Pastor Kevin Giddings, as the church’s corner was popular last year, bringing in between 200 and 300 people.

Kelli Sarocky of Irwin attended Luminary Night before the pandemic, and was excited to check out the library festivities again. The letters to Santa station caught the eye of her daughter, Olivia.

“She did a tree ornament,” Sarocky said. “This was something new, with the letters and the crafts.”

For Unity Township resident Jeff Bender and his family, attending Luminary Night has been a recent family tradition. Bender, his wife, and his son planned to visit the library and the festivities around the courthouse after they worked on crafts.

“It’s just nice to get out in the community, and get to do some of the fun Christmas activities. There’s lots of things for the kids to do,” he said. “It’s nice.”