Holiday happenings around Westmoreland: Christmas parades, turkey trots and more

Here is a listing of upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday related events around Westmoreland County.

If you have a community event you would like to be considered, please email details to gtrcity@triblive.com.

Dec. 2

Greensburg

52nd Annual Luminary Night will be held from 5-9 p.m. in downtown Greensburg.

Dec. 3

Hempfield

• Sixth annual Santa in the Park at Hempfield Park will be held 6-8:30 p.m. The event, which is free to township residents, will feature Santa Claus, caroling and horse drawn carriage rides. Registration is required: bit.ly/30ssBYh

• Word of Life Church, 4497 Route 136 presents “Return to Bethlehem” a free drive-thru tour from 6 to 9 p.m.

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The borough will hold its annual Light Up Night celebration from 6 to 9 p.m. in the area in front of the borough building and fire department. Additional details will be released in the coming weeks, and while residents will still have access to Lincoln Avenue, the celebration area will be closed from 5 to 10 p.m.

Irwin

There will be a sampling of cookies, an appearance by Santa Claus and a horse-drawn carriage circling downtown from 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 3 during the Irwin Christmas Cookie Tour. Karaoke will be staged in front of the State Farm insurance agency at 415 Main St. For the children, Santa Claus will be at Duncan Financial, 315 Main St. Children also will be able to decorate Christmas cookies at the Masonic Hall, 417 Main St.

New Alexandria

The community Light Up Night will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Center on Main Street. Cookies and hot chocolate will be served as a Dickens Choir provides seasonal music. Santa and Mrs. Claus will visit, arriving by fire truck.

A house decorating contest will be held until Dec. 19, when a winner will be announced and will receive a $25 gift certificate to Keystone Kitchen. Votes may be entered for any house in the borough. Votes must include the address and may be placed in a box outside the community center or mailed to the borough office, 207 W. Main St., New Alexandria, PA 15670.

New Kensington

The community holiday celebration will begin at 5 p.m. with the Tree Lighting at the corner of Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue. The Mayor Guzzo’s Christmas Dinner will be at 6 p.m. in the Fourth Avenue fire station. A parade will begin at 11 a.m. Dec. 4 and there will be a scavenger hunt, free horse and carriage rides for children accompanied by a parent from 1 to 4 p.m. and a train display and gingerbread village in the window at Modfinish.

Unity

Township will host a drive-thru visit with Santa at 5:30 p.m. at the municipal building, 154 Beatty County Road. Those attending can wave to Santa from their cars. The first 300 kids age 12 or younger will receive a treat. Kids also can drop off letters to Santa, to be posted through the township’s “Santa Express Mailbox.” Details: 724-539-2546.

Dec. 4

Hempfield

• Holiday Craft and Vendor Show will be held from at 9 a.m.-2 p.m. the Hempfield Township Athletic Complex

• Word of Life Church, 4497 Route 136 presents “Return to Bethlehem” a free drive-thru tour from 6 to 9 p.m.

Murrysville

• Mother of Sorrows Church, 4202 Old William Penn Hwy, Murrysville, invites the community to its annual Light Up Night celebration. There will be a 4:30 p.m. Mass followed by a free community dinner. Visitors can purchase gifts at the Santa Shoppe, tour the school’s decorated hallways, visit a living Nativity and more. Those attending the dinner are asked to RSVP to ecolcombe@dioceseofgreensburg.org.

• The Murrysville Recreation Department’s “Santa at Sardis: A Holiday Celebration,” 2-4 p.m. at Sardis Park on Rocky Hill Lane. The afternoon includes s’mores, a bonfire, carriage rides and visits with Santa. Families are asked to carpool due to limited parking, and can bring a chair to enjoy the bonfire. For more, see MurrysvillePArecreation.com or call 724-327-2100, ext. 131.

New Kensington

• Burrell-New Kensington Rotary Club will sponsor a free Breakfast with Santa from 8 to 10 a.m. at New Ken Social, the former Salvation Army Church, 1101 Fifth Ave. A pancake breakfast will be served and there will be gifts for children, a photo backdrop station and an appearance by Santa.

Dec. 5

Hempfield

Word of Life Church, 4497 Route 136 presents “Return to Bethlehem” a free drive-thru tour from 6 to 9 p.m.

Dec. 6

Murrysville

The Murrysville Community Library will host its annual holiday event, “Jingles’n’Gingerbread,” from 5-8 p.m. at the library, 4130 Sardis Road. The evening will include multiple performances by students from the Newlonsburg Music Academy, the Franklin Regional student string quartet, the East End Kids and more.

There will be crafts, children’s games, multicultural displays, hot chocolate and cookies to go from The Pastry Box food truck and a 6:30 p.m. screening of “Calvin Can’t Fly,” an animated storybook paired with American Sign Language interpretation by Kim Mackey of Murrysville.

For more, see MurrysvilleLibrary.org or call 724-327-1102.

Dec. 7 and 8

Lower Burrell

Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company No. 3 will escort Santa Claus around the city to meet children from 6 to 8 p.m. Listen for the music and look for the flashing lights.

Dec. 8

New Kensington

A Christmas Soup N’ Sing will be at noon at Logans Ferry Presbyterian Church, 750 Church St. A light lunch will be served and a sing-along will be afterward.

Dec. 11

Lower Burrell

The American Legion will host a community Christmas celebration from 6 to 8 p.m. at the post, 1100 Wildlife Lodge Road. There will be cookies and hot chocolate, Christmas carols and photos with Santa Claus. Children can bring their letters to Santa and put them in the North Pole mailbox. Letters received by Dec. 11 with a return address will be answered.

Dec. 11 and 12

Delmont

Residents of Monticello Drive present “Monticello Lights,” a drive-thru decorating competition from 6 to 9 p.m. each night where visitors vote by donating at the house of their choice. Donations will be split between Project Bundle Up and the Delmont Volunteer Fire Department.

Dec. 19

Greensburg

The final Greensburg Holiday Market of the season will be held on South Pennsylvania Avenue, downtown Greensburg, from noon-4 p.m.