By Ava Dela Pena
Parents and their children huddled in the cold Dec. 5 to celebrate a Christmas tree and menorah lighting ceremony at the festively decorated Hempstead Village Hall. With temperatures dipping into the 20s with a strong wind, kids donned fuzzy Santa hats and festive mittens as they performed Christmas and Hanukkah songs and danced to holiday music. Parents were treated to hot chocolate and front-row seats to their children’s performance.
Hempstead Mayor Walyn Hobbs Jr. appeared at the beginning of the night. “We’re going hear from our young people,” he said. “They’re going to sing, they’re going to dance, they’re going to entertain. We’re excited about it.”
Excitement was shared by all despite the freezing temperatures. One parent joked that all he wanted for Christmas was “some heating.”
The event warmed up with the first act, led by educator Soh Young Lee-Segrado, who represented the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program at Jackson Elementary School in Hempstead. Students performed “Silent Night” and “Feliz Navidad,” as well as “Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah” in Yiddish.
Lee-Segrado said it is important that students branch out and learn about other cultures. “At [the] Jackson IB PYP School, we’re helping kids to advocate and understand the importance of the local and global world,” she said.
Lee-Segrado played guitar for “Feliz Navidad” without mittens, propping up her instrument with one leg on the stage and strumming with numb fingers, yet she donned a smile throughout the evening.
After the symphony of holiday music, punctuated by a performance of “Silent Night” featuring a nativity scene of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the evening continued with a dance. Students of all ages performed a choreographed act to a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “What Christmas Means to Me.” Each student clad a bright red and white Santa hat, while one student donned a thick, white beard and ended the performance with a hearty “Ho, ho, ho!”
“Waiting in all that cold was worth it,” said a parent in the crowd amid applause.
The evening ended with a menorah and Christmas tree lighting outside Village Hall. Guest speaker Rabbi Abe Lebovic of the Beth Israel Congregation in Hempstead lit the menorah alongside Mayor Hobbs after speaking on the significance behind the Jewish tradition and explaining the three blessings.
The first blessing is to “celebrate the mitzvah, the special commandment to light the menorah”; the second, “to celebrate the miracles in our life”; and the third, to “acknowledge the fact that we’re celebrating this special moment every year.“
“The lesson of Hanukkah is to bring joy and light into our world,” Lebovic said.
The rabbi then led the group in reciting the three blessings. Although Hanukkah had not officially begun, the ceremony received excited cheers from children and parents alike.
After, Hobbs pressed a button and lit up the holiday lights adorning Village Hall, as well as a Kinara celebrating Kwanzaa. In the distance, a massive Christmas tree glittered, lit up in Denton Green Park.
Those who stuck around after the ceremony were treated to pictures with Santa Claus, who arrived shortly after the festivities on a Hempstead Fire Department truck, rounding the corner in front of Village Hall.
“We’re living through so much,” Lee-Segrado said. “We need to celebrate the holidays. The warmth of children singing will warm us up.”
