Your Menlo Park Winter Holiday Event Guide

As that old Holiday standard goes, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.  If you live in Menlo Park, no matter what Winter Holiday you celebrate in December, there are plenty of opportunities to join your neighbors and enjoy the festivities.

On Monday, November 26th, at 5:00pm, the Annual Christmas Tree lighting will take place at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park. The Advent Boutique and food vendors will begin serving the public at 4:00pm. There will be caroling as well. St. Patrick’s Seminary is located at 320 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park. More information for this event can be found at: http://www.stpatricksseminary.org/component/content/article/246-tree-lig...

Saturday, December 1st, brings a number of merrymaking holiday events to Menlo Park.

In the morning of December 1st, bring the kids, and enjoy a Pancake Breakfast with Santa, from 7:30 to 11 a.m. at the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center. Don't forget to bring your camera so you can get a great photo of your child with Santa. Activities are co-sponsored by the Menlo Park Rotary Club. The Arrillaga Family Recreation Center is located at 700 Alma Street in Menlo Park. More information can be found at: http://www.menlopark.org/departments/com/spevents.html

At 11:00am that same morning, in a program supported by the Friends of Menlo Park library, the Menlo Park Chorus will be performing their free Winter Concert, “The Gift of Music”, in the Menlo Park City Council Chambers, located at 701 Laurel Street. Free shuttle service to the event is available to seniors and residents with disabilities by calling (650) 330-2512. More information about this event can be found at: http://www.menloparkchamber.com/events/icalrepeat.detail/2012/12/01/2965...

Elsewhere in Menlo Park on December 1st, Santa Claus, Elves, and Carolers will also be on hand from 12:00 to 1:30pm at the Christmas Market at Allied Arts. The Artisans Market, selling hand crafted gifts, will be open from 10am to 4:00pm. This event is sponsored by the Allied Arts Guild Auxiliary for Children. The Allied Arts Guild is located at 75 Arbor Road at Cambridge Avenue in Menlo Park. For reservations at the Blue Garden Café, and more information, contact 650.838.9002. More information for this event can be found at: http://www.alliedartsguild.org/cgi-bin/DJcalendar.cgi?TEMPLATE=event-det...

The next day, on Sunday, December 2nd from 3:30 to 4:00pm, the Nick Barrone Holiday Puppet Show, Holiday Treats, will be taking place at Cheeky Monkey Toy Store in Downtown Menlo Park. Cheeky Monkey is located at 640 Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park. More information about the Puppet Show can be found at: http://nbpuppets.com/shows/Holiday.html.  or at http://www.cheekymonkeytoys.com/events?task=view_detail&agid=143&year=20...

On the evening of December 2nd, Santa Claus will be coming to town again, by Cal Train. At approximately 7:45pm, the Holiday Train will make it’s annual 20-minute stop at the Menlo Park Cal Train Station, where according to the Cal Train web-site, “people can enjoy holiday music led by a traditional Salvation Army brass band and on-board carolers. Santa, Mrs. Claus, Frosty and the whole gang will get off the train and greet children and pose for pictures. 

Members of the United States Marine Corps Reserves and representatives from The Salvation Army will be on hand to collect donations of new, unwrapped toys for local children who might otherwise go without this holiday season. Santa’s helpers can get into the holiday spirit by making a donation to support the Holiday Train on the website www.holiday-train.org.”

Later in the week, on Wednesday, December 5th, from 2:00 to 3:00pm, Peninsula Volunteers, Inc. presents a Holiday Concert with Menlo Atherton High School Choir, at Little House, located at 800 Middle Ave in Menlo Park. The general public is invited to an afternoon of eclectic and dynamic Holiday Music. For more information, call (650) 326-2025 ext. 222.

On Sunday, December 9, 2012, from 1:00 - 4:00pm, the Peninsula Jewish Community Center in Foster City will be hosting “Latkepalooza”. According to Peninsula Jewish Community Center website, “this 'Do It Yourself' fair will help you get ready for Hanukkah as you learn how to make your own candles, dreidels, gifts, sweet treats and much more! The event concludes with a community candle-lighting and sing-a-long.” Admission is FREE with the donation of a can of food to support the Second Harvest Food Bank. The Peninsula Jewish Community Center is located at 800 Foster City Blvd. Foster City.

On Saturday, December 15th, you can spread the warmth of the Holiday Season with a Veteran. From 2:00 to 4:00pm, you can join your neighbors in donating new blankets for distribution to U.S. Armed Forces Veterans at the Veterans Administration Hospitals in Palo Alto and Menlo Park. You can drop your blankets off with volunteers located in parking lot adjacent to Trader Joe’s at 720 Menlo Avenue in Menlo Park.

Make a child laugh, and help provide a Holiday meal to the hungry, by donating food and/or a new toy to the Menlo Park Firefighter’s Association Toy and Food Drive. In the past the Toy and Food Drive has provided toys to patients on two floors of Stanford Children’s Hospital, five hundred children at the Menlo Park V.A. Hospital, over fifteen hundred children at Saint Anthony’s on Christmas Eve, with another five hundred children at St. Anthony’s on Christmas Day. Saint Anthony’s food kitchen also was stocked with over twenty barrels of food, and the Second Harvest Food Bank was supported which helped their efforts to provide a Holiday meal to members of our community.  You can drop your donation off at any Firehouse in Menlo Park. The Toy and Food Drive has already begun! More information about Menlo Park Firefighters Association’s Toy and Food Drive can be found at: http://mpffa.org/toydrive.html.

These are just a few of the many events taking place in Menlo Park this Holiday Season. If you are new to town, or away from loved ones this season, don't be shy. Come and share the spirit of the season with your neighbors.

Please feel free to add more events in the Comments section below!