Santa Visits Old Greenbelt on Christmas Eve

December 24

Every year on Christmas Eve, Santa visits Greenbelt and travels through the town on a fire truck from the Greenbelt Volunteer Fire Department.

At Greenbelt’s fire station on Crescent Road, Santa consults with Lieutenant Andy Moffitt on this year’s route through Old Greenbelt. Santa has visited Greenbelt East the night before.

Holy Cross Lutheran Church Decorates for Christmas

December 19

On Wednesday night, I stopped by Holy Cross Lutheran Church on Greenbelt Road and took photos of members decorating the church for Christmas.

Sign for Holy Cross Lutheran Church by Greenbelt Road

Caroling in Old Greenbelt

December 18

Every year on a night before Christmas, a group of singers get together and go from one GHI court to another singing Christmas carols.

The carolers gather at the New Deal Café, and here Paul Downs starts the evening by reading from The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Greenbelt East Tree Lighting Ceremony

December 2

Greenbelt East’s annual holiday tree lighting ceremony took place on Sunday, December 2 at Greenbriar Community Center. There were two singing groups, raffles, food and homemade hot chocolate.

Corzann Sailor, Greenbriar’s Assistant Community Manager, poses with Little Miss Greenbelt Ashley Wickline, Junior Miss Greenbelt Caroline Casey, and Miss Greenbelt Veronica Handunge.

Festival of Lights Art and Craft Fair

December 2

Greenbelt’s annual Festival of Lights Juried Art and Craft Fair takes place on the first weekend in December in the Greenbelt Community Center. The fair features dozens of local artists specializing in a variety of crafts, from painting to photography, fabric art, pottery, jewelry…

Banner for this year’s Art and Craft Fair in front of the Greenbelt Community Center

Holiday Tree Lighting

November 30

Each year a tree lighting ceremony in front of the Community Center kicks off the Festival of Lights, Greenbelt’s celebration of the holiday season. The Greenbelt Concert Band performs and Santa arrives on Greenbelt Fire Department’s antique pumper.

Chris Cherry of the Greenbelt Recreation Department is tonight’s master of ceremonies.

Scouting for Food

November 10

Scouting for Food is an annual food drive of the Greenbelt Cub Scout Pack 202 and Boy Scout Troop 746. On a Saturday in November, the scouts distribute bags to homes in central Greenbelt, and a week later they come back to pick up the donations for a local food pantry. Non-perishable packaged food in non-glass containers are accepted. Last Saturday, I followed Cub Scout Pack 202’s Tiger Den during their door-to-door collection.

Before setting out to collect donations, Greenbelt Cub Scout Pack 202 members and parents take a group photo in front of the Greenbelt Community Church, where they meet regularly.

GHI Fall Realtors Open House

November 3

Twice a year, the GHI houses that are for sale open their doors for a community wide open house. The event is organized by a group of local realtors and is the best opportunity to see the inside of GHI homes. At the June open house, I visited two homes and this past Saturday, during the fall open house, I went to three more.

Jeannie Smith, a realtor with Home Sales Advantage, has set up a table by Roosevelt Center. She is an organizer of today’s community wide open house and she is handing out a list of the houses that are open today. 12 houses are open from 12 to 4 p.m.

Greenbelt Pumpkin Walk

October 27

Greenbelt’s annual pumpkin walk takes place on the Saturday night before Halloween. More than one hundred candle lit pumpkins are placed in the North Woods, and families come to walk the trail and enjoy the scene.

The pumpkin walk takes place at the North Woods Tract of the Greenbelt Forest Preserve. This sign is by the unpaved access road to Northway Fields.

Zombie Chase

October 27

Greenbelt’s Pumpkin Festival has been happening every year around Halloween for more than twenty years. The festival includes a pumpkin carving party and an evening pumpkin walk. This year, for the first time, a zombie chase was added and took place at Northway Fields. People could sign up as either zombies or runners.

A runner checks in and signs a release form. The zombies have arrived earlier and are hiding in the woods.