One doesn’t have to visit the North Pole to be in a Winter Wonderland.
Such a place can be found right in Medford Township.
Each year, the Timpano family hosts a Winter Wonderland for the community at their 32 Highbridge Blvd. home. This year’s event will take place on Friday, Dec. 19 beginning at 7 p.m.
Gene Timpano said the event was conceived about 10 years ago. He was collecting various Christmas decorations and decided to decorate his home and create an event for his neighbors and other members of the community to enjoy.
“I collected a lot of Christmas decorations that were being discarded over the years,” he said. “Over the last 10 years, it’s gotten to be a big event.”
The Timpano family puts together the Winter Wonderland each year to give the Medford community an enjoyable holiday event as well as collecting donations for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s food bank. Timpano said hundreds of community members come to the event each year.
“Every year it gets bigger and bigger,” he said. “We open it up to anyone who likes the holiday season.”
Various groups and organizations in the community have embraced the event. The Timpano family’s church, St. Mary of the Lakes, promotes the event in its church bulletin every year. In addition, the Medford Township Police and Fire departments offer their services for the evening.
“Santa rides in on a fire truck every year,” Timpano said. “The Medford Police Department has been a very big help in closing the street off so everyone can walk safely.”
The Winter Wonderland goes beyond the decorations. Live reindeer are brought in to the event each year. Santa sits in front of the shed in the backyard greeting kids throughout the night. Carolers from Shawnee High School will be at this year’s event performing holiday tunes. There will also be cookies and hot cocoa available for visitors.
Timpano said the community has responded to requests for donations to the food pantry. The number of donations has become so large the food pantry sends a truck to the event to collect all the food. Timpano said they usually fill the truck every year.
“People have been very generous over the years, particularly this time of year when things are very sparse,” Timpano said. “Instead of doing things like gathering money, we always felt the primary need would be food.”
Visitors are welcome to bring nonperishable food items for donation. Donations will be collected in the driveway in front of the house.
All donations will be sent to the St. Mary of the Lakes Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. They will be used to restock the society’s food pantry on Jones Road in Medford.
All members of the Medford community are invited to come out to the event. Winter Wonderland will begin at 7 p.m. and continue through the evening.
