The California Borough Recreation Authority paired up with California University of Pennsylvania this past Sunday Dec. 4^th for their 2^nd Annual Holly Day event held at Cal U. The holiday event took place throughout the Natali Student Center from 4-5:30 p.m. and included a variety of holiday inspired activities for families and students to participate in.

The event was free to the public and included activities such as, holiday craft stations, face painting, an interactive story time with balloon animals, and a horse and carriage ride around campus. Members of the Student Activities Board and those working with the Volunteer and Service Learning program on campus helped instruct the craft stations and make sure that each portion of the event ran smoothly.

Holiday crafts included decorating your own reindeer, snowman and picture frames, and a card decorating station for cards to be sent out to soldiers and hospitals around the area. Children even had the opportunity to write their own letters to Santa letting him know exactly what they wanted for the Holidays this year.

To add to the festivities, the cast of the Cal U Theatre Department showcased a portion of their upcoming musical, “The Happy Elf” for those in attendance at the event to watch. To go along with the holiday spirit, Vulcan Theater adjusted the movie schedule to play Polar Express throughout the duration of the evenings.

However, the most exciting part of the evening was Santa Claus’ arrival at 4:30 p.m. The parents and children grew more excited as they got closer to the front of the line and awaited their turn to take a picture with Santa Claus, tell him what they wanted for Christmas and for their take away gift. The Student Activities Board developed copies of each attendee’s picture with Santa free of charge and that were available for pick up prior to leaving Holly Days.

Various photos from the event can be found on the Student Association Incorporated Flickr page at https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/saiatcalu/sets/72157673463970404/.