Schoharie and Cobleskill are welcoming Christmas in a big way with a full lineup of events this week.

Schoharie
The Schoharie Fire Department and Schoharie Kiwanis Club are sponsoring “Christmas in Schoharie” all day Saturday.
The Old Stone Fort and the Palatine House Museum are also joining in the holiday fun.
Breakfast with Santa will be at the Schoharie Firehouse, 8am-noon, with crafts and contests for kids.
From 1-3pm, there will be a chili and soup cook-off contest. Anyone can enter but must bring recipes.
Santa will be reading “A Christmas Story” at 2pm.
Schoharie’s holiday parade will start at the north end of the village at 5pm. The theme is action figures and super heroes.
After the parade, the Kiwanis Christmas tree lighting will be in front of Lasell Hall, with refreshments and caroling.
The fire department will hold a Las Vegas night at the firehouse, 7pm-midnight.
Donations for food pantries and Toys for Tots will be accepted at the fire station all day.
Events at the Old Stone Fort run noon-5pm with a holiday market, craft demonstrations, traditional Dutch and American snacks, mulled cider and a visit from Sinterklaas.
Families will hear stories told by Sinterklaas, learn about the St. Nicholas Day, which is the traditional Dutch holiday, learn about the German paper-cutting art of scherenschnitte and discover the differences and similarities between Sinterklaas, Santa, St. Nicholas Day and Christmas.
Visitors will be able to shop for Dutch- and German-themed Christmas decorations and gifts, local history books, toys, jewelry and other gifts.
The event is free thanks to a donation by the Parshall and West Law Firm.
At the Palatine House Museum, the theme will be an Old-Time German Christmas, noon-7pm.
The 1743 Palatine House, which is on Warner Hill Road, was the home of Schoharie’s first Lutheran Pastor, Peter Nicholas Sommer.
The event will show how the Palatines, Schoharie’s earliest European immigrants, lived and how they celebrated Christmas. Museum interpreters will demonstrate open-hearth baking, and children can string cranberries and popcorn and decorate gingerbread.
Cider will be warmed over an outdoor fire, and hot chocolate will be available indoors.
Schoharie County Historian Ted Shuart will answer questions about local history, and a “hausfrau” will tell how women and children carried out chores long ago.
The event is free; children must be accompanied by an adult.

Cobleskill

Events in Cobleskill get under way at 3pm Saturday when the Toys for Tots train arrives at the station.
Sponsored by the Marine and Dunkin’, the Norfolk Southern Railway train will bring Santa and Mrs. Claus, along with Marines and elves who’ll hand out gifts.
The train will leave Cobleskill at 3:30pm and make another stop in Delanson at 4pm.
While the train is in Cobleskill, downtown businesses will hold a Moonlight Madness Sale that starts at 3pm and runs till closing.
Cobleskill Partnership Inc. will host its parade and tree lighting later on Saturday, with the parade starting at 5pm.
It will march from Campus Drive to Veterans’ Memorial Centre Park, where there will be a tree-lighting, selfies with Santa, refreshments, music and more.
Celebrations continue on Sunday, with the Cobleskill Rotary Club’s Breakfast with Santa.
Held at the Cobleskill-Richmondville High School cafeteria, the event runs 8:30am-noon, with Santa arriving at 9.
All children will get a free photo with Santa.
There will also be a reading center, crafts for kids, an auction and gifts.
Admission is $10, with all proceeds going to children’s programs in Schoharie County.