By the end of November, we’ve usually endured weeks of cold, grey drizzle. I don’t know about you, but the wonderfully sunny fall we’ve had this year has meant that the impending Christmas season has sort of snuck up on me.

So perhaps the upside to this rainy Grey Cup weekend is that it has caught our attention and reminded us that Christmas is, indeed, on the way. And just in time, too, because in Lynn Valley the festivities really start up in the week ahead (which is currently forecast to be sunny, by the way!)

I won’t list all the details here, because you can find the ins and outs on our LynnValleyLife events calendar. But be sure to take in some of the highlights of the week ahead!

You can get in the mood on Monday with a by-donation concert offered up by your very own community concert band, the Lynn Valley Black Bear Band (they even supply free eats, but you do have to go to Kay Meek Theatre to get them!).

On Tuesday, the junior band and choir at Argyle will raise the roof with some seasonal tunes in the big gym, starting at 7:30.

Wednesday the 30th is the next holiday shopping night at the End of the Line Store at the top of Lynn Valley Road. Right on the edge of the forest, the general store/gallery is just the place to enjoy a hot drink and ponder which of the café’s crafts and curiosities would suit the people on your gift list. (Wednesday is also the day to pick up your poinsettia if you’ve ordered one from Mollie Nye House, by the way.)

It’s always fun to be in the thick of things when Santa – that’s right, Santa himself – flips the switch to light up Mollie Nye House in all its gingerbread glory. That will happen on Thursday, and there will be lots of other festive stuff going on at the house that night, too. (That would be the perfect time to bring along a pair of new socks, or men’s toiletries, or warm gloves for the St. Agnes’ Scouts Christmas hampers for the Lookout Emergency Shelter – Mollie Nye House has offered to be the drop-off spot for scout leader Ken Gregson.)

Christmas jollity continues on the weekend, as merchants and organizations decorate their adopted tree in Lynn Valley Village. The official lighting ceremony will take place on Sunday at 5 p.m., and we hope you visit our LynnValleyLife tree. The team decorating elves have been busy indeed!

All this frolic will no doubt put you in the mood for the decking of your personal halls, and we hope you support the Lynn Valley Lions tree lot. Look for it in the parking lot of Karen Magnussen Rec Centre, starting this weekend!