SANTA'S ARRIVAL, TREE LIGHTING
KICK OFF HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS IN KEYPORT

KEYPORT, NJ – The Keyport Business Alliance will launch the holiday season with a tree-lighting ceremony and celebration to herald Santa’s arrival at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29.

A Norwegian spruce in the mini-park on Ring Road and American Legion Drive will be decorated for the season and lighted by Keyport Fire Chief Harry Aumack. A portion of West Front Street between Broad and Main Streets will be closed to traffic during the event, which is free and open to the public.

A program of holiday entertainment will feature the Keyport Central School Band and Choir, children from Discovery Land pre-school, the Bob Ferris Brass Quartet, the Not Your Ordinary Dancers, the all-female Amandala a cappella choir, and students of Margo Dance School performing traditional holiday favorites and Christmas carols. Members of the Keyport Fire Department will help usher the 7:30 p.m. arrival of Santa Claus, with members of Girl Scout Troop #1041 serving as Santa’s elves. Santa will be on hand until 9:30 p.m. to visit with children, their parents, and the business community.

Special “Memory” ornaments in red, white and blue will be sold for $5 each to be placed on the tree as a tribute to the community’s departed loved ones. Proceeds will benefit the Fire Department’s museum project.

A holiday Gingerbread House Contest also will get underway beginning Saturday, November 29, when gingerbread house entries will be accepted at The Front Porch Emporium, 36 West Front Street, through Sunday, December 7. All gingerbread house entries will be displayed in Keyport businesses until December 19, so holiday shoppers
can vote for their favorites. Winners in three categories – individual, child and family – will be announced on December 19 and will each receive $50 in Keyport Business Alliance “BID bucks,” redeemable at Keyport businesses.

The Super Stop & Shop at Keyport Plaza shopping center, Routes 35 and 36, will be the Bayshore drop-off location for the United States Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots campaign. The supermarket will accept donations of new, unwrapped toys November 9 through December 18 for distribution to needy children in Monmouth County. More information on the Bayshore Toys for Tots campaign is available from Stop & Shop store manager Jack Houseworth at 732-203-2233.

The new Keyport Galleria will also host a Toy Drive with Keyport Fire Department Engine Company 72. Drop off unwrapped toys at the Galleria, 24 West Front Street November 9 through December 12. Toys will be delivered to local children the week prior to Christmas.

The IHOP at Keyport Plaza will host Breakfast With Santa from 10 a.m. until noon on December 6, 13, and 20. On those days, selections from the children’s breakfast menu will be $2.99. Parents may order from the adult menu and are encouraged to bring cameras. Breakfast With Santa will be first-come, first-serve. On the same dates in downtown Keyport, demonstrations on holiday wreath-making, kiln fused glass, photography, massage therapy, and hair color how-to’s will be among the holiday programs presented by more than two dozen participating businesses, and Keyport’s shops, cafes, bistros and coffeehouses will be open late for holiday shopping and dining.

On Saturday, December 13, Keyport’s annual Candlelight Holiday House Tour will be held from 4 to 9 p.m. Vintage trolleys will be available to transport ticket holders between more than a dozen homes, churches and public buildings that will be open for the tour. Stops will include vintage Victorians and charming historic houses festively decorated for the season. For ticket information, call 732-946-2711.

Sponsor support for the Keyport Business Alliance’s holiday events is provided by Bayshore Community Health Services, 94.3 The Point, Super Foodtown Food Circus, Bayside Café and Sandwich Shoppe, BetterHomesNJ.com, Shrewsbury State Bank, the Family of Straub Dealerships, Harborview Coffee & Art Gallery, BarterPays!, and the Front Porch Emporium.

For additional information on holiday happenings in Keyport, call Allen Consulting at
732-946-2711.