Chesterfield Lights up for Christmas

Local families joined Chesterfield Township officials Friday night to kick off the holiday season during the township’s annual Christmas tree-lighting event.

Santa Claus made his way to on a township fire truck, while carolers sang holiday classics and residents enjoyed cookies and hot cocoa.

“It’s a chance for everybody to forget about the lousy economy and spend time with friends and family,“ said Alan Christ, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Department, which organizes the event each year.

Amid Christmas carols sung by the choir and cheers from the large, enthusiastic crowd outside municipal offices, township Supervisor Michael Lovelock lit up the Christmas tree, which Christ said was acquired by the township a few years ago.

Chesterfield resident Erica Saari brought her sons Carson, 2, and Casey, 4, to the tree-lighting event to let them have fun celebrating the holiday season, noting that they were most excited to visit with Santa.

“I’m going to ask Santa for a Star Wars light saber,” Casey said, adding that he’d like Santa to bring one for his brother, too.

Holly and Steve Gryniewicz, who recently moved to the township from Roseville, decided to bring their 2-year-old daughter Lily to the tree-lighting ceremony to help her become more comfortable around the man in the red suit.

“She did OK (with meeting Santa), but she had to be bribed a little bit,” Steve Gryniewicz said during the event.

Macomb County Commission Chairwoman Kathy Vosburg, a township resident and member of the Chesterfield Township Historical Society, was on hand in the Nielsen family log cabin to provide historical information about the building. The cabin was built in 1939 and moved to its present location on Sugarbush Road in 2005.

“I’ve always been interested in local history,” Vosburg said. “This is a great way to get community members together and for them to learn about the history of the community.”

The historical society has opened parts of the historical village each year during the tree-lighting event since 2003, said Roy Rivard, vice president of the society.

Volunteers continually work on improving the village for the event. This year, they added a fireplace insert to the log cabin. Families were able to enjoy cookies and hot cocoa while visiting the one-room Weller schoolhouse, where carolers took advantage of the building’s acoustics.

“Last year, we added street lights along the path and the bridge was finished, so we opened the cabin for the event,” Rivard said. “This year, we added a fireplace insert in the cabin, and now the cabin makes a perfect stop for the Christmas season.”

In addition to providing a fun experience to local families, Rivard said he hopes the society’s participation in the annual event will help spark interest in the historical society from township residents.

“Unfortunately, there are still a lot of residents who do not know the village exists,” he said. “As with other events held at the village, there is a great comradery of the volunteers in setting up and hosting each event. The satisfaction comes in seeing all the smiles and happy faces as they enjoy the events.”

Learn of more holiday events in and on Patch.