Comber families enjoyed a magical Christmas evening on Friday 3 December at the Late Night Shopping event. The programme organised by Comber Chamber of Commerce included five small Christmas trees erected in the Square and decorated by local Primary Schools; TV celebrity Pamela Ballantine switching on the main Christmas tree lights; local singer Eddie Booth singing Christmas songs in the Square; and hot chocolate and mince pies served by McBride’s on the Square. In addition, after judging the shop window display competition, the Natural Room Emporium was awarded first prize with Artizan and the Peppercorn Café awarded joint 2nd prize. Penrhyn Photography was highly commended for their comic design of Santa Claus taking photographs that was painted onto their studio window.
Alderman Deborah Girvan, chairperson of Comber Chamber of Comber said, “The highlight of the evening was Santa Claus touring the town in a tractor driven by Garth Horner of Horner’s Farm Shop and handing out sweets to children along the route. When Santa arrived in the centre of the town, a great buzz of excitement and anticipation rippled around the Square. After the Switch On, Santa retired to the specially decorated grotto in the courtyard of No14 the Georgian where he handed out selection boxes to children. To top it all, we had a surprise visit from Californian Rock Band Stitched up Heart who were staying locally and popped in to Comber to enjoy the celebrations.
It took a significant and co-ordinated community effort to put on the show. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the 20 volunteers from Gloveworx Boxing Club, Comber Farmers’ Market and Comber Rotary Club for their support and help with marshalling and ensuring that families were kept safe and risk free. I would also like to thank the management committee members of Comber Chamber of Commerce for all their hard work and effort in organising the activities. Finally, a big thank you to the Department of Communities for giving us some extra funding to bring some Christmas cheer to Comber.”
