Sophie Vanvleet meets with Santa Claus during his tour of Ferndale parks last year. Santa will return to the city this year at Schiffer Park Dec. 7.
By: Mike Koury | Woodward Talk | Published November 22, 2024
FERNDALE/BERKLEY — Ferndale and Berkley each will be hosting Santa Claus in their respective cities next month.
In the lead-up to Christmas, Santa will be traveling throughout Ferndale, passing by several parks on his way to the downtown, where he will be available to meet on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Santa’s route throughout Ferndale will start at Wilson Park, where he’ll be from 1 to 1:15 p.m. Next, he’ll make his way to Geary Park from 1:30 to 1:50 p.m.
Finally, Kris Kringle will be at Schiffer Park starting at 2 p.m., which is located at Planavon Street and West Nine Mile Road.
“I think with Schiffer Park, it’s one of those (ways) of taking advantage of our public spaces in downtown,” Ferndale Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Jennie Beeker said. “Being able to use that space with Schiffer Park … making sure that people have access to Santa on that day, you can walk or bike to see Santa. There’s also going to be parking nearby. We’re really honored that Santa chooses to come and visit us in downtown Ferndale.”
Outside of meeting Santa, there also will be stations for crafts, letter writing, s’mores and more.
Beeker also noted that the city is in the process of hanging its holiday lights and decorating the downtown, though there won’t be a set Christmas tree lighting as there had been in years past.
“The holiday season, when you’re walking down downtown Ferndale, especially Nine Mile, and you’ve got the holiday lights and people are bundled up in jackets, it’s cheerful,” she said. “It’s just really exciting to have that holiday spirit and to see people who choose to celebrate in downtown Ferndale. I also really love our shops. So we have some extraordinary shops for people to get gifts at and we have some extraordinary gathering spots. So it’s nice to see people, whether it’s following Thanksgiving or throughout the month of December and even into the new year who are getting together and making memories, or getting together friends and family and choosing to share that in Ferndale.”
The city of Berkley will be hosting its Holiday Lights Parade on Saturday, Dec. 7.
The parade will start at 5:30 p.m. on 12 Mile Road at Cummings Avenue and travel east to Coolidge Highway and the gazebo at City Hall, where the annual tree lighting ceremony will take place. Santa will ride his sleigh in the parade before assisting in the lighting of the tree. The parade also will feature floats constructed by community members.
Before the parade, at 1 p.m. at North Griffith Street, there will be a petting zoo and warming station with s’mores.
“It’s just always a great time to celebrate the start of the holiday season and to get the whole community together and see all the kids’ smiling faces,” Berkley Director of Communications Caitlin Flora said. “We’re really thankful for this fantastic group of volunteers that we have who bring the parade to life each year.”
As a relatively new resident of Berkley, Flora said it’s cool to see as a newcomer how everyone comes together for an event like this.
“There’s not a lot of opportunities like that, and so it’s just a nice way to kind of celebrate the start of the season,” she said.
The nearby city of Pleasant Ridge will hold its tree lighting ceremony a week earlier, at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 2, at Memorial Park near City Hall, 23925 Woodward Ave. Huntington Woods does not have its own tree lighting event.