Monroeville treats families to Winter Wonderland
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The line of vehicles stretching through part of Monroeville Community Park West often was at a standstill, but no one was complaining.
As cars, trucks and SUVs inched along on the morning of Nov. 9, the folks inside were greeted by a series of festively costumed volunteers offering gifts, treats and plenty of holiday cheer.
The occasion was Monroeville’s annual Winter Wonderland, a family-friendly drive-through event provided by the Monroeville Recreation Department and Monroeville Public Library. Although the weather didn’t exactly cooperate, with mild temperatures turning precipitation into rain instead of snow, the people doing the driving probably were happy.
Stationed at the drive’s conclusion were Santa and Mrs. Claus, for whom this year marks a 250th anniversary of sorts. According to history.com, the name “Santa Claus” evolved from the Dutch nickname for St. Nicholas, Sinter Klaas, and:
“St. Nicholas made his first inroads into American popular culture towards the end of the 18th century. In December 1773, and again in 1774, a New York newspaper reported that groups of Dutch families had gathered to honor the anniversary of his death.”
The modern image of Santa Claus debuted in an 1881 Harper’s Weekly cartoon by Thomas Nast, depicting him with a white beard, red suit, elves and a wife.
Speaking of elves, high school students Jace Beam from Gateway and Alana Donolo from Woodland Hill dressed the part for Winter Wonderland. And 2023 happens to be the 20th anniversary of Jon Favreau’s “Elf,” starring Will Ferrell and featuring a young, blond Zooey Deschanel as the love interest.
But fans of clean comedy and quality television may particularly enjoy Bob Newhart playing, as per the movie’s premise, an actual elf. The genuine Bob turned 94 in September.
Other film characters portrayed at Winter Wonderland were princesses Elsa and Anna of Arendelle, whose popularity took off a decade ago.
Walt Disney Co.’s “Celebrating 10 Years of Disney Animation’s ‘Frozen’” cites the movie as having grossed $1.29 billion, to go along with a song from the soundtrack, “Let It Go,” that won Academy and Grammy awards. Actually, the 2019 sequel, “Frozen II,” did even better, grossing $1.45 billion to make it the No. 1 animated film of all time.
That should help make for a happy fifth anniversary in the not-so-distant future.