Thanksgiving Week From Greenley Road: How Sonora's Holiday Season Starts, Day by Day

Santa photos start this Saturday, November 14, on Mono Way, more than a week before downtown Sonora lights its tree. Downtown's opening events then fall over four days, Wednesday, November 25, through Saturday, November 28: the tree lighting, the Turkey Trot, the Christmas Parade and the artisan fair. For a household in Sonora Hills, the season starts on the east side, and on Thanksgiving weekend the free fair shuttle picks up at Junction Shopping Center, so you don't have to look for parking at the fairgrounds.

Saturday, November 14: Santa arrives on Mono Way first

Strand's Salon holds its sixth annual Sip and Walk on November 14 from 4 to 8 p.m. at 14570 Mono Way, Suite J. According to the myMotherLode event listing, it's a vendor event with hot chocolate and s'mores. Santa photos run from 6 to 7 p.m., and the evening supports the Mike Harris Memorial Toy Drive and the Josh Ditler Memorial Foundation.

That's the first Santa on the local calendar, and it comes almost three weeks before downtown's Santa's House opens in December. It's also the first time this season you can drop a toy into a donation bin without driving downtown.

The same evening, downtown has its own event. Aloft Art Gallery's free 2nd Saturday Holiday Art Night runs from 5 to 8 p.m. at 105 S. Washington St., with holiday displays, a photo booth, ornaments made by the gallery's artists and a prize giveaway, as listed on Visit Tuolumne. Both events run until 8 p.m. and their hours overlap. The Santa photo hour on Mono Way ends at 7, so you have time for Mono Way first and the gallery after.

The four days at a glance

After the 14th, the calendar stays quiet until Thanksgiving week. Then this happens:

The days connect in two places. Wednesday's workshop ends at the moment the lighting begins. Friday's fair closes two hours before the parade starts.

Wednesday, November 25: a workshop timed to end at the lighting

The free holiday craft workshop runs from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Aronos Clubhouse, 37 Elkin St. The myMotherLode listing names the Aronos Research Club, Tuolumne County Arts, Mother Lode Makers Lab and the Sonora Chamber as hosts and partners. The free lighting ceremony starts at 5:30 p.m., and the public gathers in the Fire Museum parking lot on Washington Street.

The workshop ends at 5:30 and the lighting starts at 5:30, so the afternoon flows into the evening. One parking trip downtown on Wednesday covers both events, and you're home the night before Thanksgiving with the season officially lit.

Thursday, November 26: a choice between a mile and a 5K

The fifth annual Adventist Health Sonora Turkey Trot is free, with $0 entry listed for both distances, and starts and finishes at Discover Life Seventh-day Adventist Church. The morning runs on a tight schedule:

• 7 to 7:45 a.m.: T-shirt and bib pickup, plus same-day registration
• 7:45 a.m.: Warm-up led by LivingWell Fitness Center instructors
• 7:50 a.m.: Costume contest voting, with a Cover's Mile High Apple Pie as the prize
• 8 a.m.: Both races start
• 9 a.m.: Awards and closing

Both distances are timed, and the two courses differ more than their names suggest. The 1-mile route is mostly flat and paved. It runs up Forest Road and the Creekside Trail to a turnaround at the Alpine Trailhead parking lot. The 5K goes down Forest Road to Stockton Street, through downtown on Washington Street, up past Sonora High School, then along School Street, Snell Street and Bonanza Road before finishing back down Forest Road. The organizer puts the 5K's elevation gain at about 250 feet. One-mile finishers get a pin, and 5K finishers get a medal.

A few details matter for planning the morning. No roads close for the race, so runners share the route with traffic and are asked to stay alert. Friendly, leashed dogs and strollers are welcome. The race runs rain or shine. Parking is available at Discover Life, Woods Creek Park, LivingWell Fitness Center and the Rural Health Clinic on S. Forest Road.

Bring a can or two for the canned-food drive benefiting the ATCAA Food Bank. Finishers get water and fruit, and there are photos with Pip the Penguin. Awards are at 9 a.m., which leaves the rest of Thanksgiving Day open.

Friday, November 27: the shuttle in the morning, the parade at night

Friday is the busiest day of the four, and Junction Shopping Center is the starting point.

The Sonora Christmas Artisan Fair, produced by Colliers Events, fills three buildings at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds, 220 Southgate Drive, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on November 27 and 28. The Visit Tuolumne event page lists more than 130 artisan and food vendors, Santa and Santa's Workshop, live music, a Cocoa Cottage, the Top Shelf Elf Lounge and Gingerbread Lane.

The shuttle details:

• Pickup point: Junction Shopping Center
• First pickup: 9:30 a.m.
• Frequency: a loop every 25 minutes
• Last loop ends: 5 p.m.
• Cost: free

The first shuttle leaves half an hour before the doors open, and the last loop ends an hour after the fair closes. That gives you room to arrive early and leave without rushing. Your car stays at the Junction, and you're back on the east side well before evening.

Then comes the parade. The City of Sonora's 43rd Annual Historic Christmas Parade starts at 6 p.m. on Friday, November 27, in downtown Sonora. With the fair closing at 4 and the parade starting at 6, you can fit dinner in between and still see both on the same day.

Friday also begins a quieter tradition. The Giving Tree, hosted by Wildbud Floral Co. at the corner of Washington and Dodge Streets, runs from November 27 through December 18.

Saturday, November 28: a slower second day

On Saturday, the fair is open again from 10 to 4 with the same shuttle schedule, which helps if Friday was full. Downtown, Aloft Art Gallery hosts a free Gingerbread Man Ornament Workshop with its artists from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 105 S. Washington St. The workshop runs six hours, so you can stop in whenever suits you. It returns on December 19 if the 28th is booked.

What December adds after the opening week

After Thanksgiving weekend, the Christmas Town schedule shifts to December dates you can plan around now:

1. Christmas Tree Lane, December 2 through 31 at Courthouse Park, with decorated trees from more than 50 nonprofits.
2. Visits with Santa and the North Pole Mailbox at Santa's House on W. Jackson St. Fridays and Saturdays are December 4 and 5, 12, and 18 and 19, from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday hours are December 6 through 10, 15 through 17, and 20 through 23, from 3 to 5 p.m.
3. The Holly Jolly Wagon, a horse-drawn carriage from Columbia Stage Line and Stable, running Fridays December 4, 11 and 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. downtown, weather permitting.
4. A Celtic Christmas Concert featuring Sequoia Tree-O on December 6 at 2 p.m. at St. James Episcopal Church, the Red Church.

Weekday afternoons at Santa's House from 3 to 5 p.m. are the shortest visiting hours on the calendar. You can get there and back before dark, the same way the Mono Way Sip and Walk let you see Santa before the downtown season began. Our earlier pieces on the Greenley Road summer rhythm and the Senior Center calendar cover the rest of the year close to home.

Thanksgiving week often brings family to town, and with them questions about the house, how it has held its value and what it might bring today. If those come up at your table this year, Tuolumne Homes can prepare a free home valuation for your Sonora Hills home before the parade.