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Dozens of community members, performers, business leaders and public officials gathered at the Train Car Park in Port Jefferson Station Dec. 8, continuing a lasting holiday custom.

The Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Chamber of Commerce has hosted this event for decades, perennially reuniting the various facets of the community amid festive cheer. Guests were greeted with hot chocolate under a tent, with some chamber members tabling inside.

The stars of the event, Santa and Mrs. Claus, arrived in a stylish fire rescue vehicle supplied by the Terryville Fire Department. Along with them was chamber president Jen Dzvonar, New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) and Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook).

Santa and Mrs. Claus spent quality time with the children, sitting for photographs and taking requests for Christmas. Vocalists from the School of Rock performed Christmas carols and Hanukkah songs. Dancers from the Port Jefferson Station-based Backstage Studio of Dance jived to the musical beats of several tunes.

“We try to rally the entire community for a great community event,” Dzvonar said. She responded to the sizable turnout and talented performers by saying, “I think it’s so heartwarming. It’s like a true holiday festival, celebratory and inviting.”

The laughter and fun of the evening were just another positive development in a string of forward momentum for the community this year. Kornreich described the spectacle as exemplifying the area’s distinctiveness and charm.

“By my reckoning, I think this is reason number 74 for why Port Jeff Station is one of the best places to live in Suffolk County,” he said. “This town is changing so quickly, and there are just so many fun things going on here all the time,” adding, “I’m just really happy to be here with everyone from the community on yet another happy occasion in our new park.”

Englebright outlined some of the historical contexts behind this event. The assemblyman regarded the gradual development of the area and the Train Car Park as the product of decades of joint efforts between community groups, governmental entities and engaged residents.

“To see all of the young people here, and Santa and Mrs. Claus … it is showing us all the direction that this holiday is meant to be in,” the assemblyman said. “It’s very heartening to see the very talented kids, the dancers and the fire department. The whole community is here, and it’s just amazing.”

Gwenn Capodieci is the executive director of the Backstage dance studio. She said her dance groups have performed during this event for the past three years and frequently coordinate with PJSTCC. For her, the evening is a unique opportunity for the dancers to perform before their peers and community members.

“After all, this is a performing art,” she said. “Performing is a big part of it, so to get an opportunity to show that is really great.” 

Nicole Terlizzo, artistic director and teacher at the dance studio, said the performances were the product of two months of preparation, with the rehearsals ranging from jazz techniques to hip-hop, tap, ballet and others.

“The girls practiced really hard and really came together,” Terlizzo said. “They have a lot of fun doing it, and it’s a fun way to get them out of the studio and in front of the community.”

Paul Perrone, vice president of PJSTCC, summed up why the chamber continues this tradition annually: “It gives people an opportunity to get out of their house and enjoy the community park,” he said. “It helps people feel that Comsewogue — Port Jefferson Station/Terryville — has something to offer everybody.”

Joan Nickeson, the chamber’s community liaison, offered her take as well, citing the tree lighting event as an annual tradition that highlights the area’s continued growth and support.

“It’s an annual Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Chamber of Commerce tradition, and we’re so fortunate to have a great Santa, support from our electeds, residents and the business community,” she said.