There's a little bit for everyone at this weekend's second annual Holiday Prelude - from the traditional tree lighting, holiday decorations and Santa Claus meet and greet to trolley rides, a wine tasting and a host of discounts at local businesses.
This year's Prelude will kick off Friday at 6 p.m. with the annual Holiday tree lighting on the city's Common. Also on hand performing that night will be Waltham High School's Show Choir and the Waltham Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet. In addition, Santa will come by City Hall so children can meet him and tell him what they want.
The Prelude is being organized by the Waltham West Suburban Chamber of Commerce's new Downtown Initiative Committee and will be held until Sunday. City Councilor at large Sally Collura serves as chairwoman of the committee. She organized last year's inaugural event.
Also this weekend, businesses from the Westin Hotel to Gourmet Pottery on Moody Street will be holding raffles for prizes, Collura said. Local restaurants are also getting in on the act, offering meal deals.
"Businesses are running free raffles - just for stopping by," Collura said.
Mrs. "Jessica" Claus will be at the Tea Leaf on Moody Street from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday to get holiday wish lists from children to take back to the North Pole.
The city's trolley, with Santa on board, will be giving free rides on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to several of Waltham's premier stops, such as Gore Place, the Paine Estate, the Waltham Museum, the Waltham Library and the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation - each of which will be offering holiday activities, Collura said.
Collura said many downtown businesses would decorate their storefronts in holiday style from Friday until right after Christmas, setting the background for a scenic holiday stroll.
While holiday lights on the Common are being scaled back due to the economy, there will be two Christmas trees, each about 10 to 12 feet tall, each with about 500 lights at Embassy Park on Moody Street and Jim Fahey Park near Moody and High Streets.
On Sunday, from 1 to 4 p.m., Gordon's Fine Wine and Liquors on Main Street will offer a wine tasting, as well as give folks lessons on how to mix drinks and create holiday meals. For those who worry about missing the Patriots football game at that time, there is no need to: The store will show the game on two wide-screen televisions.
There's much more going on at this week's Prelude. For a more complete list of activities visit the Waltham Tourism Council's Web site at discoverwaltham.com.
Collura said she wants to expand the Prelude next year.
"I would like to have every club, every church, every nonprofit organization do something throughout the city," she said.
Richard Conn can be contacted at 781-398-8004 or rconn@cnc.com.
