One of the seasonal traditions in many area communities is the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony, complete with music, treats for the kids, and a visitor from the North Pole. Vandalia will hold its Tree Lighting and Holiday Market on December 8 at the Vandalia Recreation Center, located at 1111 Stonequarry Road.

We spoke with Aaron Messenger, the Center’s Facility Director. He revealed that although the tree lighting has been a staple for 20 years, the Holiday Market is a fairly new addition.

“When I started here at the rec center, I thought ‘You know, we get a lot of people who come out for the tree lighting, but we need to add more things.’ I decided to add the holiday market portion five years ago. In the rec center’s gymnasium, we set up a variety of vendors to give people the chance to get some of their shopping done early. Most of the vendors are from the Dayton area.”

The market opens at 4:00 p.m., but the tree lighting starts at 6:00 and lasts until 6:30. During that time, the market shuts down, so the vendors can go outside to see the show.

“The tree will be located at the Recreation Center. We do have a tree donation program for people in the community, but this year, we just took one of our trees from the back of the Center. We’re currently growing our own tree to be used permanently. There’s an application process for people in the community who want to donate one of their trees, though. Our staff will sort through the applications, then go see the trees and judge which one to use.”

It wouldn’t be a Christmas festival without a visit from the big man with the long white beard. “During our tree lighting, Santa leaves from the Fire Station and rides a firetruck into the Sports Complex. After the lighting and music, we set him up in the gymnasium so people can visit and get their picture taken. This event is really community focused. The Butler High School Chamber Choir will sing a few songs, and the Morton Middle School Bell Choir will perform as well.” Two food trucks and a coffee truck will be outside the rec center during the festival. In addition to Santa, there will be some other things going on inside to keep the kids occupied while the grown-ups shop.

“During the market, we’ll have crafts going on in the program room,” Messenger said. “The kids can make ornaments and picture frames. We’ve also been working with a local pet adoption center to have Cuddly Cat Time. They bring in cats dressed up in holiday costumes, and the kids can play with them while the parents are shopping. If they want to adopt a cat, they can turn in paperwork for that. We started working with the pet adoption center during the Fall Festival and were able to place four or five of their cats in good homes.”

Messenger noted that since the Holiday Market was added, there has been a rise in attendance and community involvement.

“I think people were getting a little bored seeing the same thing every year with the tree lighting, but we’ve definitely seen attendance increase since we started the market. We’ll have people lined up at the door at 4:00 p.m. waiting to get their shopping done. There are times when it’s wall to wall in the facility. We also have a great rapport in our community, so it’s easy to reach out to the schools and ask for participation. The kids in the bell choir and chamber choirs are stoked to come out and perform, too. There are a lot of moving pieces, but we have a great staff to help bring things together.” It's this sense of community building that keeps activities like this going, a point that isn’t lost on Messenger and his staff.

“During Covid, we still had the event but definitely cut it back big time. People still wanted it, so we did a Santa drive-thru where they could drive up to the rec center and pull up to Santa. Kids were able to drop off their lists and talk with him. In 2021, we were able to go back to our normal set-up. We understood the severity of what we were going through, but at the same time we still wanted to provide something for our community. We had to shut down so many things, it was important to keep this going. Our community told us they want these special events. People can come and enjoy the holiday environment, see people they haven’t seen in a while, and enjoy the season.”

The Vandalia Tree Lighting and Holiday Market will take place on December 8 at the Vandalia Recreation Center, located at 1111 Stonequarry Road. The Market opens at 4:00 p.m., and the tree lighting will take place at 6:00. For more information, visit Vandaliaohio.org, or the city’s Facebook page.