WSANA gets festive

The Worcester Square Area Neighborhood Association (WSANA) welcomed hundreds of neighbors to its 55th annual Christmas Tree Lighting on Sunday, December 3. "We think it was our biggest crowd ever, or as long as I have been here, twenty years," WSANA president George Stergios said. Blunch, Café Quattro, Mike's City Diner, Teranga and 7-Eleven served food and drinks throughout the festivities including three varieties of pizza, chili, sugar and chocolate chip cookies and coffee and hot chocolate.

Local businesses such as Foodie's, Barre 3, Andre's Café, Seiyo Sushi and Wine Shop and Toro donated gift certificates for the raffle, which benefits both the Music in the Square summer concert series and WSANA's annual gift to a local charitable organization. The top prize, $500.00 cash, was awarded to the Boston Real Estate Collaborative, which promptly donated the money back to WSANA. Stergios was not able to provide a net fundraising total by press time.

Penni Layne and the Wonder Boys, formerly known as First Take, returned to Worcester Square after several previous appearances at WSANA's summertime Music in the Square Series and at last year's Christmas Tree Lighting, with a light-hearted, jazzy spin on holiday classics including Christmastime Is Here", "Let It Snow" and Nat King Cole's "Christmas Song" that had guests singing along and dancing. Santa arrived on a fire truck around 5:00 PM and sat down beside the towering, colorfully lit Christmas tree to take gift requests from children.

After the raffle, a final delivery of pizza from Café Quattro and a few last songs from Penni Layne, the crowd quickly dispersed to the warmth of their homes.