Nutley Tree Lighting

Hosted annually at the Nutley Park Oval, the holiday season kicked off with the lighting of the tree on Sunday, December 8.  At approximately 5:30 p.m, the festivities and holiday music began. With a section of Franklin Avenue closed from Chestnut Street to New Street, adults and kids were allowed to roam around and have fun.  Nutley Mayor Joseph Scarpelli, in charge of the event, brought in horse and buggy rides for the kids, popcorn, roasted chestnuts, a live nativity, and song performances from the Middle School and High School choirs.  

“Our holiday celebration is a wonderful tradition that brings families and friends together to welcome in the holiday season,” commented Mayor Scarpelli to Tap Into Nutley.  “It is a great way to see our community at its best.”  With a great turn out like every year, students, parents, and the kids had a blast. 

Senior Juliana Caruso, part of the choir that performed in the John H. Walker Middle School, said, “It’s a great town-wide event that spreads the holiday spirit and I enjoy being a part of that.”  Since this is her last year performing at the Tree Lighting, she helped make sure that the performance went great and with all the different events going on during the Tree Lighting they still had a full audience.

Down the street, at Vincent United Methodist Church,  there was a live performance every twenty minutes of the nativity.  With a quick view from the horse rides that walked past and the many people that stopped by to watch and take pictures, it is a very admirable and memorable aspect to the tree lighting.  The chilly night ended around 7 p.m. with the big countdown and the town was lit up with even more holiday spirit.

“Nothing is more beautiful than seeing the Park Oval decorated for the holiday season,” said Scarpelli to Tap into Nutley.  With a great big turnout and overall jolly night, the tree lighting is planned to continue for the next winter like tradition here in Nutley.