By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Scarecrows have been replaced by toy soldiers. Pumpkins have given way to colorful, oversized ornaments. Cornstalks have been cast aside for strands of garland.
In a lightning quick transition from one major holiday to another, the ghosts, ghouls and goblins of Halloween have disappeared in Sea Isle City in favor of colorful Christmas decorations that have turned the town into a winter wonderland.
The Victorian-style lamp posts lining the John F. Kennedy Boulevard entryway into town are now draped with green garland and wreaths trimmed with red and gold bows. Christmas lights and snowflakes twinkle along Landis Avenue.
Twin toy soldiers straight out of the “Nutcracker Suite” stand guard at the front entrance of City Hall, resplendent in their colorful uniforms and top hats.
Across the street from City Hall, giant gold, silver, green and red Christmas balls decorate the lawn at the Sea Isle City Welcome Center. Santa’s glittery sleigh is parked on the other side of the Welcome Center, waiting to take flight on Christmas Eve with the help of Rudolph and the other reindeer.
As it does every year, Sea Isle decorates for the holidays to put everyone in a festive mood just before Santa comes to town. Santa will make his official appearance Friday, Nov. 24, for the city’s Christmas parade beginning at 6 p.m. and a tree lighting ceremony in Excursion Park at 7 p.m.
The decorations are another way to make the business district more inviting to holiday shoppers. Twinkling lights add to the cheery atmosphere. The traditional holiday decorations create a bit of whimsy and nostalgia for residents and visitors alike.
Sea Isle’s professional decorating contractor, Rileighs Outdoor Decor, of Allentown, Pa., dresses up Excursion Park, City Hall, the downtown business district and other popular areas of town each year with elaborate holiday displays.
“People are always happy to see the holiday season arrive. The decorations around Sea Isle City enhance that feeling,” city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said.
Custer noted that the contractor is getting an early jump on putting up the decorations because there is so much work to do and the city wants to make sure everything is in place by Thanksgiving weekend for the parade and tree lighting ceremony.
Tanner Johnson and Michael Boisse, of Rileighs Outdoor Decor, were busy stringing garland and bows on the city’s decorative streetlamps in the downtown business district on Thursday.
Later, they used a mechanical lift to decorate the front entrance of the 1st Bank of Sea Isle City with a long strand of garland trimmed with ornaments. The bank’s red-brick facade also is accented with wreaths.
Johnson said Rileighs plans to erect Sea Isle’s traditional 30-foot artificial Christmas tree in Excursion Park this week. The towering tree serves as the focal point of the holiday decorations and is visible as soon as motorists cross over the Sea Isle Boulevard bridge to enter town.
“The Christmas tree is the most recognizable and most important non-religious symbol at Christmas time,” Custer said.
There will be a new tree this year to replace the one that was destroyed in 2022. Fierce winds from a coastal storm over the Christmas weekend in 2022 snapped the steel support cables for the old tree and sent it crashing to the ground with such force that it bent the metal frame.
Custer said visitors look forward to seeing the tree while attending the holiday festivities over the Thanksgiving weekend. The tree also serves as a backdrop for holiday photos, she added.
“It’s an important thing to have,” she said.
There will be a new Christmas tree this year to replace the one that was destroyed in 2022. Fierce winds from a coastal storm over the Christmas weekend in 2022 snapped the steel support cables for the old tree and sent it crashing to the ground with such force that it bent the metal frame.
The Christmas tree, which overlooks Excursion Park just steps from the ocean, is decorated each year with colorful ornaments, white lights and a twinkling white star on top.
As is tradition, Santa joins Mayor Leonard Desiderio to light the tree after Sea Isle’s Christmas parade down Landis Avenue, capping off the city’s official holiday celebration.
