A few nights before Santa would be coming to town and all the presents under the tree were still to be wrapped, friends, families, and neighbors joined together at the Hunt Memorial Building in Ellenville for a seasonal event entitled "a celebration of joy of the holiday season." The event was organized by area resident John Simon in conjunction with the Village of Ellenville, the area's Art Alliance, the Wawarsing/Ellenville Chamber of Commerce, the Hunt Memorial Preservation Committee, and of course, the support of the community.

Traffic to Village Square was blocked off for the event. Jonathan Caban, a Village employee, had spent several hours earlier festively decorating the Hunt Memorial building. Steve Grundt, a member of the fire company, volunteered his time and provided lighting that illuminated the building and square. Cider and donuts were offered, and booklets of holiday songs were compiled and passed among the group for a community sing along.

The event featured a performance by the high school choir which Barbara Hoff, local business owner and Ellenville-Wawarsing Chamber of Commerce member, described as "absolutely wonderful." The evening also featured the debut performance of the Hunt Memorial Brass, a recently formed ensemble of local residents who all played brass instruments. "We formed on Monday and just got this music today," joked Dr. Mark Craft, a member of the ensemble. "We'll probably change our name a few more times before our next performance," said Craft.

Village Manager Elliott Auerbach, who attended the event with his family, said as he gestured towards the musicians, "These are all local people." He continued, "This is hopefully the first of many community sing-alongs." The celebration ended with the singing of the festive tune, "Let it Snow." This event was a wonderful example of community spirit in the Village of Ellenville and left those who attended smiling on their way home.

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