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YourHub.com \\ Santa Clarita Valley \\ Stories \\ Holidays \\ Christmas

City to be transformed into winter wonderland

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Contributed by: Heather Leuning on 11/28/2006

This holiday season, the City of Santa Clarita will host the 3 rd Annual Old Town Newhall Children's Holiday Parade on Saturday, December 2 nd at 9:00 a.m. and celebrate the 10 th anniversary of the Metrolink Holiday Toy Express, December 8. Holiday songs and a snow-filled winter wonderland await attendees.

The parade, which will begin at 9 th and Walnut Avenue in Old Town Newhall, and continue down Newhall Avenue into Hart Park, is a celebration of children. Local children are encouraged to participate in the holiday celebration by decorating their wagons, bikes, skateboards, scooters, and animals. Children are invited to register with a pet, friend, group, scout troop, dance or cheer team, or any other group or organization. Absolutely no adults are permitted to walk in the parade. Judges will award trophies to winning entries displaying the most holiday spirit.

Festivities will continue after the parade at the snow-filled William S. Hart Park. Here, children and guests can enjoy the sounds of local holiday carolers and visit with Santa and his wife. Pictures may be taken with Santa, but guests must provide their own camera.

Children and guests are also invited to sign greeting cards for the men and women who are overseas, serving in the military at the finish line of the parade. The city will send the decorated greetings to our troops before the end of the holiday season.

Parking for the event is available at the Metrolink Station located at Market Street and Railroad Avenue or at the parking lot on 5 th Street and San Fernando Road, as well as street parking.

On Friday, December 8, 2006, Santa and friends will return to the Santa Clarita Valley on board a train bringing toys and joy to needy children. The 450-ton Metrolink train will be decorated with giant glittering ornaments, garland, animated displays, and more than 50,000 sparkling lights to kick off the Southern California Firefighters' "Spark of Love" toy drive.

The train will travel to Metrolink station cities throughout Southern California -- arriving in Santa Clarita +from 8:25 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. The Newhall Metrolink station is located at 24300 Railroad Avenue. The event will present a free live musical stage show, snow, and the opportunity to meet Santa and his friends as they descend from the train.

This year marks the Metrolink's 10 th anniversary of the Holiday Toy Express with a bigger train, more decorations and a new show in an effort to collect toys for the California Firefighters' "Spark of Love" toy drive.

The Holiday Toy Express collects and distributes toys to needy children by encouraging audience members to share their holiday spirit by bringing a new, unwrapped toy and sports equipment to the show to donate to this most-worthy cause.

Each year hundreds of toys are collected for the California Firefighters' "Spark of Love" toy drive and distributed locally. Last year alone, "Spark of Love" collected over 600,000 toys within all five counties.

The annual Metrolink Holiday Train has come a long way since the first holiday train made its way across Southern California in the winter of 1997. Ten Holiday Toy Express trains have continued to light up the night, playing to thousands of delighted families from Ventura to San Bernardino who have come to see the free show, delight in the magic of Santa and his helpers, and donate a toy to a worthy cause.

For more information on the Old Town Newhall Children's Holiday Celebration and Parade or how children can register, contact Donna Avila, City Events Coordinator at (661) 286-4145 or visit the web at www.santa-clarita.com/arts.

For more information on the Holiday Train, visit the Metrolink on the web at www.metrolinktrains.com/holidayexpress or call (800) 371-LINK (5654). For more information about the California Firefighters' "Spark of Love" toy drive, visit www.abctv.com

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