First tree-lighting in village area of Brookfield, with Santa and Mrs. Claus!

Thanks to First Bank Financial Center, the Brookfield village area will be hosting a tree lighting ceremony with Mayor Ponto, and a surprise visit with Santa and Mrs Claus, at 5PM on Thursday, December 6. There will be caroling with MLS Children's Educare and dancing by Brookfield Dance Academy, and refreshments will be served at the Mary Linsmeier Educare Preschool and Daycare following the ceremony.

This event, which takes place at the Miller Homes Building, 2925 N Brookfield Rd, is made possible by business owners in the area – Boy Scout Troop 246, Brookfield Dance Academy, Dawn Farina Modern Design, Hunzinger Construction, Miller Custom Homes, ML Children’s Edu-Care, Superior Die Set Corporation, and Urban Upcycle.

Santa and Mrs Claus (Jim Paar and Elaine Powers of New Berlin) have been making appearances together for 15 years, with Jim having more than 30 years of visits under his belt – and very real beard. Elaine’s birthday and their wedding anniversary fall on December 25, so they are clearly the real deal! One year they saw over 1400 kids in 21 days, and are now seeing second generations. Jim and Elaine support the military, and are members of several VFW units as well as Adopt-the Unit and any donations given to them are used to support the needy . After retiring in 2003 from the Santa biz, they are back doing a very limited number of visits, so the Village area is lucky to have them!.