Vermont towns find creative ways to celebrate the holidays

VERMONT (WFFF) — Towns across Vermont are getting creative with holiday celebrations. They are finding ways to still have their annual holiday celebrations while also following COVID-19 protocols.

"We just have to keep finding ways to inspire people that there is hope, we will get through this together," said Milton Town Manager Don Turner.

Typically, the town of Milton has a tree lighting ceremony where over a hundred people gather to watch the tree lighting, drink hot cocoa, and listen to carolers. This year the event will be a drive-by tree lighting happening on Saturday at the town offices.

"We are envisioning people lining up down into the park and around and then driving by and dropping off toys or food donations," said Turner.

Milton's event will also be broadcasted on Facebook live.

In Randolph, for the past two years the town has hosted a winter lights parade, but this year they are taking the parade on tour to visit folks in multiple surrounding communities. Cofounder of the parade and Community Activist Valerie Schoolcraft said the parade could last for three to four hours.

Folks will be able to wave to Santa and see creatively decorated vehicles from the comfort of their own home or car. A parade map is available online.

"We couldn't let the community down. Winter is a hard time for a lot of them. We don't have school, we don't have sports or high school sports right now, so any glimmer of those lights or a parade definitely brightens up those faces," said Randolph Recreation Director Haidi Arias.

Arias and Schoolcraft say although things are different, they hope the parade will bring joy to people at a time they need it most.

"We built that momentum, we want to keep it going, we wanna show that we are still strong and hopefully next year we will come out even better," said Schoolcraft.

Randolph's parade will take place on December 12. Both towns are also having house decorating contests and other COVID-friendly celebrations.