As in years past, the free horse-drawn carriage rides were a big hit with families and couples alike.
The 2021 edition of the Lakeside Holiday Event filled the community’s sidewalks, shops, and restaurants with an estimated 2,000 attendees as it inspired the Christmas spirit in one and all.
“It was a first-class production that represented the community very well,” said Lakeside residents Al and Barb McDonald. “We were impressed with the activities, signage, involvement of the merchants, music, and, of course, the tree lighting.”
The couple also mentioned that the police presence — in person, in cars, and on bicycles — was noticeable and comforting.
“All these details helped to make it very enjoyable for residents like us and the many visitors. Everyone was smiling.”
Kelly Vance, Sarah Brown, and Abbey Seminaro of Realty Capital (master developer of Lakeside) orchestrated the festivities, which featured some new wrinkles this year.
“We increased the number of balloon artists, face painters and digital caricature artists so that the lines would be shorter this year,” explained Seminaro. “We also added lighting in the ‘kids zone area’ for the bounce houses and lighted the tunnel near the train rides to make it more inviting.”
“Of all the years I’ve been here,” volunteered Brie Washington, owner of Briesly’s Boutique. “I think this was the largest crowd I’ve seen at Lakeside. We bought 400 bags of popcorn and we could have given out more had we not run out. We had several people come back after the event to shop.”
Seats at the community’s restaurants were hard to come by, especially on the patios where patrons enjoyed the heightened sidewalk activity.
At Briesly’s Boutique, Brie Washington and family gave away 400 bags of popcorn before they ran out.
“It was insane,” said Adrian Krasniqi, manager of Mio Nonno Trattoria. “I’ve never seen it so packed on a Wednesday night. I wish we could have a crowd like that every night.”
Many people wandered into Lakeside Urban Grocery, where they sampled items and made purchases throughout the night, said owner Wilma Chesier.
At AshJenn Signature Desserts, Sharmon Walters invited kids to decorate cupcakes.
“It was priceless to see the smiles on the kids’ faces,” Walters said. “We hoped to sell more desserts, but I am happy with the exposure we gained.”
“The turnout surprised us,” said Chris Valtierra, D.C. of City Chiro Sports Rehab. “We’ve only been open for about six months and a lot of people who dropped by didn’t realize we were out here so we loved the exposure.”
The event helped to fill Lakeside’s many restaurant patios where patrons enjoyed a ring-side seat for the festivities. Above, the patio at Mio Nonno.
City Chiro welcomed visitors with three-minute massages, hot chocolate, and face-painting for the kids.
“We were super busy,” said Eric Rodriguez, barbershop assistant at Lakeside Barber & Co. “We had lots of walk-ins and people coming in to schedule appointments.”
“Thanks to our numerous sponsors and their generous donations, we were able to bring the Candyland theme to life with decorations, inflatables and branded picture opportunities,” said Seminaro.
“We are especially grateful to our premier sponsors — Van Trease Architectural Designs, First United Bank, Mind Matters Psychiatry, and Lakeside Village — who were instrumental in putting on the event.”
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