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TRIADELPHIA - Leaders in the town of Triadelphia hope to bring some joy to their community with an early season Christmas celebration on Sunday.
Events begin at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Triadelphia Town Hall, and conclude with a Christmas tree lightning at the Triadelphia Fire Station at 8 p.m.
It was on June 14, 2025, when flooding devastated Triadelphia and nearby neighborhoods in Valley Grove and Elm Grove.
"Since the flood, over a third of town was destroyed and a lot of the cheer has left the community," said fire chief David Patterson.
Among the structures left severely damaged was the Triadelphia Fire Station.
"Last year, we were still rebuilding our fire house, which we're still rebuilding," Patterson continued. "We're at about 90% on our stuff now.
"Now we're to the point where we can start to give back to the community. And some of the money we got from people we're going to put into Christmas, and we put into Halloween."
The money also will be put into the community in other ways in the coming months, he added.
"We want to bring more cheer back, and more positivity," Patterson said. "We want to build our community back.
"As the fire department, we were there for the people during the flooding, and we want to be there to bring back people and make them happy."
A 14-foot tree from the Feisley Christmas Tree Farm was to arrive at the fire station on Friday.
Patterson noted he has always loved Christmas but admitted in recent years the holiday hasn't been the best for him.
Nevertheless, he said is going all out in 2026 and putting up a lot of Christmas lights.
Triadelphia's Community Christmas Celebration starts at 5 p.m. Sunday at Triadelphia Town Hall. There will be a balloon artist and cotton candy served to the children before Santa arrives on a Triadelphia Fire Department ladder truck at about 5:45 p.m. The tree lighting at the town hall follows at 6 p.m.
Santa Claus will then lead the children to the Triadelphia Fire Station for more fun and food, and there will be tables set up for kids to make ornaments.
There will also be a very special rope onto which the community can write messages on ribbons tied on the rope, according to community organizer Amy Jo Hutchison.
"If they want to write their name or a special wish on it, that will be our garland for the Christmas tree," she said.
At the fire station, there will be hot dogs, drinks and popcorn served. The fire station tree will be lit by Santa at 8 p.m.
"It might be a year and a half later, but people are still very sad," Hutchison said. "We know that we've lost over 100 water customers. There's a woman up the road and she believes she is the only original person left because everyone she grew up with left after the flood and hasn't come back. There's just a lot of holes and a lot of emptiness.
"We showed up so well for each other when times were really, really hard. Maybe we can start leaning into that community and being with each other all of the time. We thought maybe a dose of Christmas cheer would lift people's spirits."
It's all about the town and the fire department working together for the people of Triadelphia, she continued.
"We're leading the community and letting them know we're there," she said.