Verona’s inaugural Jolly Jamboree rings in the season
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Verona celebrated the start of the holiday season with the first-ever Jolly Jamboree.
Railroad Park was filled Nov. 20 with hustle and bustle on a beautiful afternoon, and the nice weather helped draw the crowd to the park was filled with an array of vendors and organizations.
The Riverview Education Foundation set up a booth for the holiday ornament contest, which featured creations from the K-6 students at Verner Elementary. The festival attendees were then invited to vote on the fair favorite, selecting one ballot per grade. The contest was sponsored by the Verona Chamber of Commerce and Etta’s Blvd Doggy Daycare.
The same booth also had gingerbread kits which benefited the Riverview Education Foundation. These kits contained all the necessary ingredients for making holiday gingerbread, and are still being sold until Dec. 15. You can purchase one kit for $12, two kits for $18, or three kits for $20 by contacting Stefani Garibay at SGaribay16@gmail.com.
Another big feature of the day was a holiday toy drive sponsored by the Lower Valley Athletic Foundation. This is the fourth straight year for the drive, and in addition to LVAF President Vince Flotta and Treasurer Tim Long collecting toys for the underprivileged at the event, the organization also placed multiple boxes in the local area and plan on continuing the drive through Dec. 18. There are 14 collection boxes in Verona, three in Oakmont and two in Springdale. The LVAF also partnered with Oakmont’s Castle Toys, and were selling snowflakes provided by the toy store. For every snowflake sold, Castle Toys donated $2 to the toy drive.
One of the favorites for the children were the letters to Santa boxes placed throughout the event. Kristen Sutfin, co-owner of Mechanic Coffee in Verona was dressed up a Mrs. Claus and was directing children to the letter boxes and posing for photos. She said, “It’s just been so much fun to see all the children giving messages to Santa and the smiles on all their faces.”
In addition, Bridging Rivers Community Alliance had a booth for hot cocoa, and they were also selling books, holiday ornaments, and handmade holiday gift bags that went to benefit the Christian Missionary Alliance, which is an organization in Spain dedicated to helping to stop human trafficking. They will continue raising funds throughout the holiday season, and anyone interested in helping can reach out to Pastor Ryan Manners at pastor.ryan@bridgingrivers.com .
The town also featured over 20 businesses in a holiday decorative window walk passing out cookies, and there were numerous other arts and crafts, kids face painting, food and drink booths, including a s’mores bonfire at Acclamation Brewing, and music under the clock in the center of Railroad Park. Pittsburgh’s Elias Khouri had the crowd warmed up by playing holiday favorites on his acoustic guitar, which then lead into the dedication of a time capsule for the Verona 150-year anniversary.
Trish Hredzak-Showalter, who is a member of Verona Council and was one of the primary organizer’s of the event, said, “Things really came together nicely. You can just feel the warmth in the holiday air, and we’ve had just the right amount of hustle and bustle to make it lively.”
While Erin Palermo, the secretary of the Verona Garden Club, who had a booth set up selling holiday plants and poinsettias, said “We got a beautiful day. The weather’s nice, the music is going. It’s just a great time for the community.”
This year’s event was coordinated with the Oakmont Hometown Christmas event, allowing residents of both towns to attend each event. There was even a trolley service, which transported residents back and forth between the two boroughs, which residents seemed to enjoy and appreciate. Verona’s celebration stared at noon, while the Oakmont celebration started at 4 p.m. The holiday parade started in Verona at 5 p.m. and went along Allegheny River Boulevard into Oakmont. The festivities in both towns ran into the evening.
Kelli Collins, who was volunteering her time at the Jolly Jamboree information booth, concluded, “We got the trolley, we got the toy drive, the garden club and there’s lot of private citizens volunteering throughout this event. Everything has gone really well. It’s a community event in every sense of the word.”