Santa’s Big Day in Small-Town Vermont

Sponsored by The Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont, a pretty village with a river flowing through it, is famous for having the state’s longest-running professional theater—and it’s unlikely that there is more talent seen onstage in a town of this size anywhere in the country. If everyone is home and relatives are visiting, there may be about 650 people residing here. Each day, however, many more make the pilgrimage to The Vermont Country Store, the North Star of Main Street. It’s a cozy nest of nostalgia that’s hard to shake even after leaving, as the entire town center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Here, on the first Saturday of December, Weston greets the yuletide season with Christmas in Weston, an event founded more than 30 years ago that distills the holiday spirit to its essence of goodwill, far from the furious pulse of packed malls. Supported by local nonprofits and businesses—like The Vermont Country Store and Weston Theater Company—this free day of family fun has all the essentials. Marshmallows are roasted over an open fire on the village green and at The Weston Village Store. There are horse-drawn wagon rides, a petting farm tucked into a barn, visits to historic museums, kid-centered craft activities, a tree lighting, and a live fireworks show. And, of course, there’s Santa.

Before Santa and Mrs. Claus make their appearance at 11 a.m. at the Weston Village Christmas Shop, a visitor stopping into the town’s tidy post office might encounter Melvin Twitchell. He’s been a postmaster in southern Vermont for more than 40 years, and has all the small-town stories that go along with that—like the tale of a postman whose vehicle had a hole in its muffler, and how the 200 or so families on his rural route didn’t want him to fix it. “They wanted to know when he was on his way,” Twitchell recalls with a laugh. A local resident comes in and hands him a brown paper bag, and he smiles: Inside sits a pear the size of a softball. “She just came back from California,” he explains. “Merry Christmas,” she calls out as she leaves.

Outside on the village green, a lovely pocket of land rimmed by vintage iron fencing, a Christmas tree festooned with unlit lights stands in the bandstand. The tree won’t spring to life until dusk, but long before then, the green and its surroundings are bustling with activity. Families gather around the bonfires, while food trucks stand by with delicious fuel for the day’s merriment. The Vermont Country Store sponsors wagon rides drawn by sturdy draft horses, and the clip-clop of their hooves punctuates the chatter and laughter of the crowd. And for those who want to warm up indoors and enjoy a good meal while they’re at it, the new restaurant at The Vermont Country Store, Leyla’s, has tasty lunch options.

When Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive on the scene, they take up their post at a special Santa Claus tent at the Weston Village Christmas Shop. From his cozy chair, Santa will listen to a litany of Christmas requests from children both shy and bold. “Oh, you have the devil in your eyes,” he teases one boisterous youngster, before adding, “You wish real, real hard, and I’ll try and get my elves working.” As each child climbs off Santa’s lap, Mrs. Claus hands down a candy cane.

More holiday cheer awaits across the street at The Vermont Country Store, whose front-door bell rings all day long, just as it has for decades. Whimsical and one-of-a-kind, the business that Vrest Orton and his wife, Mildred, created in 1946 pays tribute to the powerful tug of memory and the appeal of nostalgia to our imagination—and they packaged that shopping experience not only on store shelves but also in catalogs that have found their way around the world.

Here, grown-ups reminisce about favorite childhood flavors as they peruse glass jars full of penny candy, and shoppers stroll the jam-packed aisles in search of that perfect holiday gift. In recent years the retail treasures have grown to include products celebrating Christmas in Weston itself, with proceeds going toward the Weston Volunteer Fire Department and The Little School, a local nonprofit preschool. Special in-store events also add to the festive spirit: For instance, during the 2024 Christmas in Weston celebration, The Vermont Country Store will host R.W. Alley, famed illustrator of the Paddington Bear books, as he creates an artwork on-site to be auctioned off, as well as spends time with kids reading from his new book. And so typical of the hospitality in this town, the new owners of COHO Inn and Motor Lodge—formerly The Colonial House—have welcomed the Alleys to spend the weekend at their inn. 

During the afternoon, visitors may find themselves drawn to The Church on the Hill, an 1838 house of worship that’s just a short stroll from the village green, where the music of holiday carols is ringing out. A woman named Pat Connelly is leading the singing while playing guitar. Her voice is easy to listen to, and songs fill the room. “I can hear your spirits in your voices,” she says. At the other end of town, The Old Parish Church hosts its annual reading of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, in which the voice of the narrator is provided by professional actors who live in Weston and the parts of the characters are read by volunteers in the audience.

Meanwhile, the action on the green is far from over. Santa Claus makes a dramatic entrance aboard the Weston Volunteer Fire Department truck, siren blaring and lights flashing. After greeting all the kids on the green, he makes his way to the bandstand to kick off the tree lighting.

As dusk falls, seemingly everyone in Weston is gathered around the bandstand. When the tree blazes to life, it feels like a shared amen on the day—followed by a fireworks display as exuberant as the Hallelujah Chorus. Many will choose to round out the evening by heading to dinner at either The Left Bank at The Weston or to The Hub at Weston before attending Weston Theater Company’s annual Winter Cabaret; others will bundle into their cars to make their way home.

Everyone who attends Christmas in Weston, though, will be left with memories of timeless moments: songs in a church, chimes from a shopkeeper’s bell, the sight of children nestled in their parents’ arms. Like many Vermont towns, Weston has faced big challenges in recent years, from population swings to flood recovery, that have brought change to this historic village. Yet one thing that hasn’t changed is Weston’s heart, and the gifts it bestows at Christmastime.

This sponsored post is adapted from a 2018 article published in Yankee. For more information about Christmas in Weston, which this year is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 7, go to westonvt.net.