FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com DECEMBER 1, 2016 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23 Get into the holiday spirit at these tree lightings and other festive events in Queens BY THE QUEENS COURIER STAFF editorial@QNS Queens will be lighting up for the holidays in the weeks ahead, as communities across the “World’s Borough” celebrate the season’s arrival with tree lightings, concerts and special visits from the North Pole’s most famous resident. Some of the events scheduled to take place rain, snow or shine include the following: Astoria The Fourth Annual Holiday Festival and Tree Lighting will take place on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 2 p.m. on the Astoria Park Great Lawn, which is located at 19th Street and 23rd Avenue. There will be train rides, face painting, holiday performances, cotton candy, songs of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, Christmas carols and a tree lighting at 5 p.m. Bayside The Bayside Village Business Improvement District and Councilman Paul Vallone present the third annual Children’s Holiday Parade along Bell Boulevard on Sunday, Dec. 4. The festivities kick off at 3:30 p.m. at 36th Avenue and Bell Boulevard and all are invited to march. Members of the NYPD and FDNY will join in the parade and free holiday treats and hot chocolate will be offered. The parade will be followed by a lighting ceremony at the Bayside Long Island Rail Road station. Flushing There will be a holiday tree lighting ceremony at Flushing Library on Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m. The event will also feature singing and magic performances. The library is located at 41-17 Main St. Jackson Heights The seventh annual Jackson Heights Winter Caroling Sing-a-Long will take place on Saturday, Dec. 17. Community members will sing winter and holiday songs from all faiths, languages and cultures as a group, while walking through Jackson Heights. Carolers will begin at 75th Street, then walk up 32nd Avenue toward 76th Street, down 76th Street toward 31st Avenue, up 31st Avenue to 77th Street and up 77th Street toward 32nd Avenue. They will then go to Cassidy’s Ale House for food and drinks. Maspeth The Maspeth Chamber of Commerce presents the Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony on Friday, Dec. 2, at 6 p.m. at Maspeth Memorial Square, located at the intersection 69th Street and Grand Avenue. The ceremony will include free raffles, entertainment and a visit from Santa Claus. Middle Village Residents of Middle Village will get the holidays started in style with the community’s annual tree lighting ceremony at 6 p.m. on Dec. 2. The lighting will take place in front of the Community United Methodist Church, located at 75-27 Metropolitan Ave. Guests will enjoy carols from members of Girl Scout Troop 4419 from Our Lady of Hope School. The lighting is sponsored by the Middle Village Chamber of Commerce, the Kiwanis Club of Middle Village and the Middle Village Property Owners and Residents Association. Whitestone The We Love Whitestone Civic Association, Queens Chamber of Commerce and Councilman Paul Vallone will sponsor the official lighting ceremony of the holiday lights in the Whitestone Village on Thursday, Dec. 1. Head to the parking lot of Harpell Chemists in Whitestone located at 12-65 150th St. to meet Santa and watch the lighting. The event begins at 4 p.m. and the lighting will take place at 5 p.m. Wodside The Woodside Holiday Lighting will take place on Saturday, Dec. 2, at 6 p.m. at Sohncke Square Park, located on 58th Street between Woodside and Roosevelt avenues. Guests will celebrate the lighting of the park’s tree and decorations along Roosevelt and Woodside avenues. The program includes carolers, a holiday greeting from elected officials, hot chocolate and cookies and a visit from Santa Claus. BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected]/@AngelaMatua To celebrate the holidays, one local bike organization is hosting a Santa Ride to give parents and children a fun and healthy way to meet the man himself. Queens Bike Initiative, a group of residents who advocate for stronger bike networks within parks in the borough, started the group in 2015. They first organized the Santa Ride last year, where about 40 Queens residents participated. According to Sergio Peçanha, a member of the organization, the free event on Dec. 3 will be an “easy jingle-bell ringing ride around Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst and Corona,” and the starting point is Travers Park at 78th Street and 34th Avenue. The group will meet at 9:30 a.m. with a stop at Gorman Playground in East Elmhurst and Northern Playground in Jackson Heights for children. The bike ride is open to people of all ages as long as children have a parent to accompany them. “We will move slow, but faster than walking speed,” Peçanha said. “On Saturday’s ride, kids will be able to ride along with Santa, take pictures and hand their letters to the old man himself.” Participants will also sip on hot chocolate and there will be police escorts along the route. Organizers also encourage the participants to bring water and bike locks for the stop along the way. The group is hopeful that additional bike paths in the borough will make it easier for adults and children to visit parks more safely. This summer, the city installed a bike lane on 31st Avenue that connects the Astoria waterfront to the Flushing Promenade. It is the first connection between East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Corona and Astoria. “We hope to see a few more lanes in the near future, completing a grid connecting parks,” Peçanha said. “We also hope that part of this network is protected to allow kids to use.” To register, visit www.eventbrite.com/e/2016-santaride tickets-29404696238. Yuletide pedals Go for a jolly ‘Santa Ride’ through Queens this weekend Photo courtesy of Queens Bike Initiative File photo/QNS A scene from the 2015 holiday tree lighting in Maspeth.
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