Parking was at a premium along A1A in Sebastian, and even off the beaten path a bit, as crowds came out to kick off the holiday season at the 28th annual Light Up Night hosted by the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce and its member businesses. A slight nip in the air and thousands of twinkling lights at storefronts and buildings along the way fostered the festive feelings of participants and visitors alike.
Many attendees made the newly renovated Chamber & Visitors Center their first stop to pick up event maps and, while they were at it, a few brochures on the area’s recreational, business, lifestyle and tourism opportunities. The office is a “Visit Florida Certified Tourism Information Center,” one of 30 in the state.
“We have 41 businesses participating this year,” said SRA Chamber President/CEO Beth Mitchell. “Some of them have had their own unique flavor for years. Lisanne [Robinson, owner of Beyond Useless Boutique] and her mother have been serving mom’s eggnog since 2000. And then the hospital has busloads of people that start lining up for their buffet at 4:30. The food is so good; it’s unbelievable.”
Mitchell wasn’t kidding. Long lines of people snaked through the parking lot, waiting to chow down on the Sebastian River Medical Center’s bountiful buffet, prepared by their own cafeteria and served by the hospital’s leadership team.
“I believe we’ve been doing it ever since the beginning,” said Angela Dickins. “Typically, we get somewhere between 500 and 600 people come through.”
Some of the businesses, such as Coldwell Banker Paradise, went all out with their décor and refreshments. Offices and cubicles were decorated to the hilt, with flat-screen “fireplaces” and even a life-sized sleeping Santa on a bench, along with lots of goodies to munch on while taking it all in.
And at almost every site there were cookies – oodles and oodles of cookies – with yummy liquid refreshments to wash it all down.
Over at the Living Healthy Studio folks could, as Kristen Beck put it, “work off their indulgences,” and ease the guilt of all those cookies with a few on-the-spot workouts.
The GFWC Sebastian River Junior Woman’s Club, always up for a seasonal challenge, was a study in red, right down to the crimson-clad Santa listening patiently to all the wishes of little ones. He would be busy the next day, too. “We’ll be bringing Santa in tomorrow at the parade; we built a sleigh on a float,” said member Teddy Hulse.
First-place winners in the annual decorating contests were: Christmas Fantasy indoor – Florida Eye Institute; Christmas Fantasy outdoor – Sebastian Center; Traditional indoor – Coldwell Banker Paradise; Traditional outdoor – Marine Bank and Trust.