By MATTHEW LINDSEY

CANTON -- The 31st Holiday of Lights celebration will be held Friday, Nov. 28 featuring Santa and friends, the tree lighting, caroling and sleigh rides.

Santa will arrive around 6 p.m. being pulled by Percheron horses, owned by Tim Hatch, to the village green to light the Robin Crowell Memorial Tree and the blue veterans’ “thank you” tree. Santa will be accompanied by village police for safety precautions.

“Santa will bring his friends back this year…and Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread will join this year to mingle with the crowd and take photos,” said event organizer Marilyn Mintener.

Santa will be escorted by firefighters with their torches for the tree lighting ceremony.

Following the tree lighting ceremony, Santa will meet and greet children and give out candy canes and books donated by local businesses.

Diane Foote will lead caroling, joined by Christmas favorites Frosty The Snowman, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread, and Spotty the Dalmatian Dog. The characters will dance with the kids and pose for family photos.

The Presbyterian Church, Park Place, will serve donated hot chocolate and cookies as kids wait for a lighted sleigh ride around the village.

“Kids absolutely love the sleigh rides…last year we estimated maybe 300 to 400 hundred people came out,” she said.

Twelve groups and organizations will be decorating the area to make it festive, according to Mintener.

“We realize a lot of areas in the county do not put on as big of a celebration as Canton … so we welcome people from all over the county to come out to this event,” she said.

There is also a memory tree and donations benefit the Holiday of Lights. The cost is $2 per name.

Other monetary contributions come from local organizations, sororities and merchants including several banks, she said.

“We see people come from DeKalb, Potsdam, Gouverneur and all over really … to join in this special event,” Mintener said.