New Kensington residents gather for Christmas tree lighting, mayor's holiday dinner

New Kensington residents sang together before breaking bread together as the holiday season got underway in the city Friday night.

Christie Sabulsky came to the lighting of the city’s Christmas tree for the first time with her children, Brayden, 9, and Brooklyn, 6.

“I like when the community gets together,” she said. “It’s nice to see.”

Ty and Angela Smith’s year-old son, Rhett, was 2 months old when they came to the tree lighting last year.

At home, Ty Smith said, Rhett likes to take the ornaments off their tree and walk around with them. He couldn’t do that with the city’s tree, although it seemed he wanted to.

“He loves the Christmas lights. That’s why we come down,” Angela Smith said.

Marissa Thompson remembers singing at the tree lighting as a child with the choir from her school at St. Mary of Czestochowa. She attended Friday with her sons, Andrew, 8, and Steven, 4.

“It was always a happy memory,” she said. “I want mine to experience it. They look forward to it every year.”

Mayor Tom Guzzo led the gathering of residents in carols before the tree at Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue was lit up.

He then invited everyone to his 12th annual holiday dinner at the nearby No. 1 fire hall, where fire trucks were moved out of the garage to make room for tables and chairs.

With the exception of 2020 because of covid-19 restrictions, Guzzo has hosted the dinner every year since he was first elected mayor in 2010. Guzzo, members of his family and other city officials served it.

The Rev. Darryl Johnson, pastor of Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, led those gathered in grace. After that, looking across the garage, he noted the diversity of the group, in both age and race.

“All of those things, none of that matters tonight,” he said, invoking a theme from his services of “refresh, revive and renew.”

He encouraged everyone to not worry about anything, fill their bellies and take some home.

“Let’s forget about everything,” he said. “Let’s enjoy the moment.”

Santa made an appearance, surprising children who were not expecting to see him until the city’s parade Saturday.

Weather may impact parade

As of Friday night, the city’s annual parade still was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, but weather conditions might come into play.

While it’s going to be mild in the morning with temperatures in the 50s, the forecast calls for rain and wind, with gusts of 30 to 35 mph, National Weather Service meteorologist Jenna Lake said.

The rain will end in the afternoon, but the winds won’t calm down until late Saturday into early Sunday. The temperature will fall into the 30s in the afternoon after a cold front moves through.

Guzzo said officials will decide in the morning if the parade should go on as scheduled, be delayed or rescheduled for the following week.

The New Kensington Salvation Army and the New Kensington Area Rotary Club will hold a pancake breakfast with Santa before the parade. It will be held from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Salvation Army, 255 Third St.

Children are free and the charge for adults is $2.