Publications & Sites 
Hinsdale full of holiday fun Friday
Mark Rybicka of Westmont checks the light bulb for the North Pole post office in Hinsdale's Burlington Park. | Kimberly Fornek—Sun-Times Media
Hinsdale Christmas Walk and Storybook Village
WHEN: 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30,
WHERE: Downtown Hinsdale and Burglington Park at Chicago and Garfield avenues
WHAT: Christmas tree lighting at 5 p.m. in front of Memorial Hall
Ice carving demonstration on Washington Street from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Radio Disney entertainment from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Gingerbread Man storybooks on display in 35 Hinsdale businesses
Article Extras
Updated: January 28, 2013 1:58AM
HINSDALE — Hinsdale’s annual holiday celebration Friday will be a mixture of old and new.
With strolling carolers and the Christmas tree lighting, the downtown will be filled with small town charm.
Santa Claus, however, will arrive via fire truck and golf cart, not in his traditional sleigh, and Radio Disney will broadcast live from Hinsdale.
The 47th annual Christmas Walk and Storybook Village runs from 4 to 8 p.m. Nov. 30.
“It’s a huge event,” said Jan Anderson, executive director of the Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce. “We’d love for our community to take advantage of it.”
Washington Street between Hinsdale Avenue and First Street will be closed to vehicles to accommodate free activities, such as an ice-carving demonstration and the Radio Disney program, which features music and promotions.
Hinsdale is participating in Radio Disney’s Festival of Giving, a national campaign to encourage people to support various charities during the holiday season. A heated tent will be set up where donations will be accepted for Toys for Tots, the Family Health Network and the Northern Illinois Food Bank.
Toys for Tots will collect new, unwrapped toys; the Family Health Network is collecting coats for children and teenagers; and the food bank asks for cans and boxes of nonperishable food.
Stores in Hinsdale’s downtown will stay open late for shoppers and many will display large storybooks designed by local school children. Each book contains a poem and illustration that students from Hinsdale Middle School created about Cookie the Gingerbread Man and the business that is sponsoring the book. The storybooks will remain on display until Dec. 31.
Cookie, the event’s mascot, and other costumed characters will greet visitors throughout the event. Children can ride a miniature train that will operate on First Street.
Local Boy and Girl Scout troops will sing Christmas carols and be on hand for the lighting of the Christmas tree on the south side of Memorial Hall at 5 p.m. Santa will attend the lighting ceremony and then meet with children across the street in his workshop in Burlington Park.
