Welcome to EverythingSCV.com for Dec. 1, 2013

It’s December! Where did the year go? Do you have your holiday lights up and burning bright? KHTS, your Hometown Station, wants to know where the BEST and the BRIGHTEST lights are this holiday season. Are you collecting for charity this holiday season? Let me know at Michele@hometownstation.com, I’d love to help you get the word out!

Enter the KHTS Holiday Light Tour Contest

The inaugural KHTS Hometown Station Holiday Light Tour will tour the Santa Clarita Valley on the evening of Saturday, Dec. 7 in search of the SCV’s BEST and BRIGHTEST holiday lights. Please contact me with your name, address and phone number so we can drop by on Saturday and “ohh and ahhh” over your light display! Email Michele@hometownstation.com.

HMNMH Holiday Home Tour

The annual Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital Holiday Home Tour will feature four beautiful homes this year. The Home Tour Preview Gala will be held on Friday, Dec. 6 and the Home Tour on Saturday, Dec. 7. This is the 33^rd annual Holiday Home Tour and will benefit Henry Mayo’s Women’s Services.

During this special holiday event, visitors will have an opportunity to tour four homes decorated in unique themes of festive holiday décor in the heart of Santa Clarita Valley neighborhoods including Westridge, Stevenson Ranch and Wiley Canyon.

The tour is hosted by the hospital’s Home Tour League. As in past Home Tour events, professional designers, in collaboration with the homeowners, will showcase their unique themes to the homes.

Holiday shoppers looking for unique gifts will find the Home Tour’s indoor holiday gift boutique open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 at Pico Canyon Elementary School, 25255 Pico Canyon Road, Stevenson Ranch. The Holiday Home Tour will be held that same day from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The tour is open to all adults and children over 12 years of age. For safety reasons, guests are requested to wear flat shoes only. Tour and Gala tickets can be purchased by calling 661-253-8051. For more information, visit www.henrymayogiving.com.

Bring a toy and a donation

Just a reminder that many of the streets around the Santa Clarita Valley are collecting donations for many worthy causes this holiday season. One of the most beautiful streets in the SCV, Wakefield Court, will be collecting toys for the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley and donations for the Bridge to Home shelter. The donation boxes can be found at the opposite ends of the cul-de-sacs along Wakefield Court in Saugus (off Copperhill via Courtland Way).

The Seventh Annual Beast Charity Run/Walk

Join local runners and hikers Saturday, Dec. 14 for the seventh annual holiday scaling of The Beast to benefit the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry. The Beast is a dirt-and-gravel fire road that begins at the park-and-ride where Newhall Avenue dead-ends just east of Highway 14. Starting from an elevation of 1,100  feet above sea level, the trail winds steeply up the foothills of Whitney Canyon Park all the way to Los Pinetos Peak at an altitude of 3,864 feet. Round trip is approximately 9.5 miles. Start time is 7:30 a.m. A $25 pledge earns you the much-sought-after commemorative T-shirt and the admiration of your peers. Come out and join the fun, or stay home and make a pledge from the comfort of your plush easy chair — your local community will benefit either way! The event is sponsored by Runners Lane, Santa Clarita’s premier specialty running shoe store. For more info, visit runnerslane.com.

Literacy and Arts Festival

I think EVERYTHING is happening on this Saturday, isn’t it? Celebrate the seventh annual Santa Clarita Literacy and Arts Festival, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Old Town Newhall Library, with youth entertainment, education, and activities to encourage, promote, and expose the importance of literacy and the arts to people of all ages. Be entertained by storytellers, be a part of the hands-on art activities, and practice journalist skills for the day, all while bringing out the surprise and delights of the imagination. For more information check out the Santa Clarita Valley Education Foundation page at www.scveducationfoundation.org.

And there’s more!

Placerita Canyon Nature Center Associates Annual Holiday Craft Fair will be held 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center, 19152 Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall. Make wreaths and centerpieces from a variety of live greenery, holly, pine cones, mistletoe, dried fruit and seed pods. Kids’ crafts include candle dipping, bead bracelets and pine cone art.  Santa will make an appearance. Parking and admission are free. A modest fee is charged for wreath making and the children’s crafts. For info: placerita.org or call the Placerita Nature Center at 661-259-7721.

The 22nd annual 5K and 1K Run through Six Flags Magic Mountain

The Kiwanis Club of Santa Clarita will host its 22nd annual 5K and 1K Run through Six Flags Magic Mountain, beginning at 8 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013. Bring a new toy for “Toys for the Holidays” to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley, and get free admission to the park after the race. Go to santaclaritakiwanis.com to register or active.com

Michele E. Buttelman is the executive editor of EverythingSCV.com, an online publication debuting in early 2014. She is also a correspondent for KHTS AM1220, www.hometownstation.com.

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