Catasauqua Borough continued its long-standing tradition of lighting the borough Christmas tree on the first Sunday of December. The light rain did not deter too many revelers at this year’s event, held Dec. 2.

“We were happy so many residents came out to enjoy the evening,” Mayor Barbara Schlegel said.

Some of the events were canceled because of the rain, but a fun-filled night was still in store.

Gunnery Sgt. Kenneth Serfass brought his Antebellum Marine Band to play Christmas songs under the pavilion. The choir from Holy Tri- nity Memorial Lutheran Church joined the band for Christmas carols.

Girl Scout Troop 6675 enticed the crowd with cookies made by Revolution Church. Bishop James McIver and his congregation opened their church for crafts.

The key event was the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus. The venue for Santa shifted to inside the George Taylor House to keep everyone dry. The slight change for this year was not noticed by the anxious children waiting in line to meet St. Nick.

Every year, the fire department brings Santa to the tree lighting on a firetruck. This year, everything looked the same, but the subtle difference was the firetruck is owned by Deputy Chief Darryl Paul. The Catasauqua firetruck was captained by Paul and his father when it served the borough. It was sold around 2000 and bounced around until it hit eBay. Paul snapped it up and brought it back home. After years of work, it brought Santa to Catasauqua and made Paul and his family smile.

The evening ended with some residents heading over to Taylor House Brewing Company for some craft beers and special snacks to cap off the memorable event.