Caroling through Sloatsburg goes back nearly 50 years. Many locals look back fondly on evenings spent at the annual December holiday event.
The freshly decorated Christmas Tree waits for visitors at Harmony Hall in Sloatsburg, NY. Sunday from 1-5PM Harmony Hall hosts its annual Victorian Holiday, which is free and open to the public and co-sponsored by the Town of Ramapo.
From cold, snowy evenings gathered with school friends, to pleasant social evenings out amid fellow villagers, caroling through Sloatsburg and the lighting of the Christmas Tree at Village Hall has been a community staple.
This year the event again features members of Suffern High School’s Select Choir and will led the singing. Participants in the caroling begin at St. Joan of Arc Church on Eagle Valley Road at 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 2. Carolers then travel to Harmony Hall, the Sloatsburg Library, and the Sloatsburg United Methodist Church just across from the Municipal Building, before returning to Village Hall to light the tree and menorah and refreshments. The Village invites all residents to enjoy an evening in celebration of the season.
Schedule of Upcoming Sloatsburg Holiday Events:
– Breakfast with Santa, Sunday, December 2, Sloatsburg Elementary School, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. For more information, or to make a reservation for this event, call the Village Hall at 753-2727
— Victorian Holiday at Harmony Hall, Sunday, December 2, from 1-5 p.m.
– Sloatsburg Annual Tree and Menorah Lighting & Caroling, Sunday, December 2, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. — Meet at St. Joan of Arc Church to begin
— Tuxedo Chamber of Commerce Holiday Mixer, Thursday, December 6, 6-9 p.m. at the Tuxedo Park School.
– Annual Christmas Train, Saturday, December 8, throughout the Village during the morning and into the early afternoon
Harmony Hall’s annual Victorian Holiday coincides with the Village celebration Sunday, and has become a popular way to celebrate the holidays and a departure part for some carolers to join in. The Friends of Harmony Hall have shaped the Victorian Holiday so that it has become an integral part of Sloatsburg holiday season.
Last year The Journal News featured founding Harmony Hall board member Peter Bush in video interview about the Friends of Harmony Hall Victorian Holiday celebration in Sloatsburg, NY.
The Jacob Sloat House is decked out in Victorian-era fashion for Sunday’s event, and will open its doors to the public Sunday from 1-5 p.m. The free event is co-sponsored by the Town of Ramapo and includes music, entertainment, raffle prizes, children’s crafts and games, mulled cider, and Harmony Hall’s Holiday Shoppe.
Harmony Hall was built by Jacob Sloat in 1848, with members of the Sloat family living in the avant-guard Greek Revival house on the hill until 1908, when it passed out of the family. The Friends of Harmony Hall efforts seeks to restore the house to as it was when the Sloat family lived in it from 1848-1908, and establish the property as an historical, environmental and education center for the Ramapo Highlands region.
