THURMONT, Md. – Christmas may be well over a month away, but Christmas and Santa Claus are coming to town a bit early this year.

On Nov. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Santa will make his first appearance of the season at the Cozy Restaurant’s annual tree lighting, which follows Thurmont’s tree lighting in Mechanicstown Park at 6:30 p.m.

Santa will also be making an appearance at the Fourth Annual Christmas in Thurmont on Dec. 1, which runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The day-long event is packed full of events, making it a widely attended and popular event.

“It’s a very big event for us [Thurmont],” said Vickie Grinder, Main Street Manager. “We always have a good turnout… normally a couple hundred.”

The day starts with a “map hunt” in which participants receive a map to take around to various Main Street businesses to be stamped. Once the proper stamps are acquired, the map is entered into a prize drawing held at the end of the day.

At 11 a.m. Santa is scheduled to arrive and pose with children for free pictures and from 2 to 4 p.m. a Christmas movie will be shown for the kids, who can also make a craft during that time. The day concludes at Hobbs Hardware where over 150 prizes will be given out.

The Thurmont Historical Society will be holding an open house in the Creeger House on North Church St. during the day. Visitors can get a glimpse of life in Thurmont over its more than 250 year existence.

Another huge event is the Christmas light judging event, held from December 11 to 13, where five homes and one business will be picked as winners.

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