Here’s a rundown of assorted end-of-year holiday activities taking place in Wellesley
*Visit our Where to Worship page for links to houses of worship, so you can get details on services of interest.
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Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s 8th annual Festival of Trees will take place from Friday, November 25 through Sunday, December 11, at Mass Hort’s Elm Bank property, 900 Washington Street, Wellesley. The festival will showcase over 65 trees and feature Snow Village, an extensive model train and holiday village collection. The Festival of Trees, in the Hunnewell Building, offers beautifully decorated holiday trees that are donated and decorated by local businesses, garden clubs, and individuals. Visitors “vote” with their raffle tickets in hopes of being the tree winner at the end of the Festival. Visitors can enjoy the decorated buildings and grounds at Elm Bank with a stroll or a horse- drawn wagon ride. For the young at heart, there are visits from Santa and fun activities in the Parkman room.
Snow Village is an enchanted exhibit of holiday villages and trains. Its creator, Bill Meagher of Needham, continues to add more intricate figures to the towns and villages. Snow Village is located in the Education Building, where model trains wind through Dicken’s Village, as well as old favorites, Fenway Park, Beacon Hill, and Snow Mountain. New additions include: Downton Abbey, 3 new trains, an amusement park with a Ferris Wheel and Spin Ride, and at the North pole there’s a new climbing Santa and a new Santa Observation Tower.
Holiday Festival hours:
Friday – Sunday, November 25-28: 10am – 8 pm
Wednesday – Thursday, November 30 – December 1: 4 pm – 8 pm
Friday – Sunday, December 2-4 – 10 am – 8 pm
Wednesday – Thursday, December 7- 8: 4 pm – 8 pm
Friday – Saturday, December 9 – 10: 10 am – 8 pm
Sunday, December 11: 10 am – 6 pm
Admission is $10 for adults, children under 12 are free. Mass Hort members are $8.00.
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H.O.M.E. Craft Fair is coming back to the Wellesley Congregational Church, 2 Central St., on Saturday, Dec. 3, 10am – 4pm; and Sunday, Dec. 4, after the 9am and 10am services, and they’re bringing a wonderful selection of pottery, hand-knit hats, mittens, socks and sweaters, beautiful quilts, stuffed animals, wooden toys, jewelry, a large selection of jams and jellies and maple products, hand-made wreaths, and more, just in time for all your holiday shopping needs. Shoppers will find gifts for all ages in a range of price points.
H.O.M.E. stands for Homeworkers Organized for More Employment, and is based out of Orlando, Maine. The organization loads up hand-made crafts by the van-ful and sells crafters’ wares at fairs in Massachusetts and Connecticut during the holiday season. All income from the sales goes back to the individual crafters.
H.O.M.E. was founded in 1970 as a crafting co-op to enhance the quality of life for low income and homeless families, and serves one of the poorest areas in northern Maine. The program has grown over the years to assist with food, jobs, shelter, low-income housing, education, and self sufficiency. H.O.M.E sells crafts in their own shop on campus as well as at craft fairs during the holiday season. Their on-campus facilities are dedicated to weaving, ceramics, leather work, stained glass and stitchery, and crafters and artists in the local community can use space on H.O.M.E.’s campus. In addition, H.O.M.E. runs a licensed day care and a food pantry, which offers community access to food sourced from their organic gardens and green houses. They also offer hot lunches Monday through Friday. Since 1985, H.O.M.E. has been part of the Emmaus movement which is an international solidarity movement that addresses the causes of exclusion.
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Wellesley Square Holiday Stroll — Sunday, Dec. 4, noon-6pm
Shopping and holiday activities extravaganza, including tree lighting, Santa, an art walk, sleigh rides, an ice sculpture & more.
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Tree Lighting & Caroling 5:30 to 7pm on Dec. 8 in the Linden Square Courtyard
Shopping Stroll– Enjoy special discounts and promotions from 5 to 8pm at these participating stores.
View and print the Shopping Stroll Store List Here
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Shopping Stroll in Linden Square– Enjoy special discounts and promotions from 5 to 8pm on Dec. 9 at these participating stores
View and print the Shopping Stroll Store List here
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Bonjour and Joyeux Noel, it’s the French Christmas Market in Wellesley, December 10
Saturday, December 10, 2016, the Wellesley Community Center at 219 Washington Street, Wellesley Hills is sponsoring a Christmas holiday trunk show, hosted by Your French Gift, 10am – 4:30pm.
Items for men, women, children, beauty, art, and decoration. In addition, Café Madeleine will sell coffee, tea, other beverages, specialty food, and food gifts.
You may recall that Your French Gift had a bricks-and-mortar store for years in Wellesley Hills.
Dec. 11 in Linden Square: Breakfast with Santa at The Cottage – 8am and 9:45 AM seatings, reservations required, click HERE to reserve your seat 100 % of Raffle and Children’s breakfast proceeds benefit Lovin’ Spoonfuls
Lunch with Santa & Ham Sampling at The Linden Store from 11-2pm- visit with Santa while you grab some lunch and sample their delicious ham
Make your own Pizza with Santa’s Head Elf at California Pizza Kitchen from 11-2pm- Email Nicole Martino at nmartino@cpk.co to sign up in order to secure your spot. Mention Lovin’ Spoonfuls when you eat lunch and 20% of your bill is donated to Lovin’ Spoonfuls
Scavenger Hunt– 10-2pm Enjoy fun activities, freebies, face painting and more in our participating stores
View and print the clue sheet and store list HERE
The Holiday Happenings weekend is sponsored by Wellesley Bank and a portion of the weekends proceeds will benefit Lovin’ Spoonfuls
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Luminary Night — Sunday, Dec. 11
The 10th Annual Luminary Night will be held on Sunday, December 11th, 2016. On Luminary Night, families and businesses throughout Wellesley light luminary candles along their streets, sidewalks and doorsteps, creating a beautiful town-wide glow welcoming the holiday season.
Luminary kits can be purchased online . Luminary kits are $20 each and include materials to create ten luminaries. Kits ordered on-line will be delivered to your home between December 6th and 10th. BUY KITS HERE!
Are you hosting a Luminary Night block party for your neighborhood? Let us help you get the word out – and the coffee is on us! Please register your party and we will help promote your party and provide warm beverages and snacks for your guests! REGISTER YOUR BLOCK PARTY HERE!
An Advent Service of Lessons and Carols, 5pm, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 79 Denton Rd.
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TOTS AT 10! Holiday Storytime & Craft in Linden Square — Tuesday, Dec. 13, 10am
Registration for the free class starts 2 weeks before the date so be sure to check back to register and for more details.
Suitable for kids age 1.5 to 5 years old, but all are welcome.
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Wellesley Symphony Orchestra’s Holiday Pops! — Sunday, December 18, 3:00pm
Nancy Hoffmann Gerber, soprano with Douglas Gerber, guest conductor
Vocal selections from “Suddenly Christmas Eve” by Stephen Gerber
Our traditional “Two Front Teeth” Contest Winner, the audience holiday singalong, a visit from Santa and much, much more. Fun for the whole family.
Held at MassBay Community College, 50 Oakland St., Wellesley
More info on tickets: http://www.wellesleysymphony.org/
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