The freezing temperatures were just right for Santa Claus to roll into town on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle for the Lighting of Langley ceremony Saturday.

Christmastime has hit the Village by the Sea, and the holiday shopping season officially launched with a tree lighting event Nov. 28. With temperatures below freezing, the roads and sidewalks were slick, and frost covered grass, benches and leaves at Langley Park.

About 100 people peppered the small park on the corner of Second Street and Anthes Avenue. Sipping hot chocolate and cider, singing carols and yuletide tunes, greeting Santa Claus and some alpaca reindeer and watching the tree become aglow were all in store for the gathered crowd. All of it pleased at least one family.

“It was great,” said Charity Criswell of Greenbank.

Julia Palmquist brought her 13-month-old baby, Svea, for the first time after years of visiting family on South Whidbey. Bundled in a white parka with a tiny white beanie covering her head, Svea looked like a miniature snowman enthralled with the shiny red ornaments on the tree as her father, Eric Palmquist, hoisted her up for a closer inspection.

“We decided it felt like a Hallmark movie,” Julia Palmquist said.

Equally entranced by the ornaments was 1-and-a-half-year-old Oscar Rodriguez. Stuffed into a blue jumpsuit, Oscar squatted next to the tree, cupping one of the red orbs.

“He likes the balls on the tree,” said his mother, Erin Rodriguez of Langley.

Another family from out of town was enjoying the caroling. Mom Courtney Flora of Seattle brought her two children, 7-year-old Claire and 3-year-old Nick, just as she had for the past several years. 

Performed as a medley, Vern Olsen, Martha Olsen, Karl Olsen-Lund and Deb Olsen-Lund led the caroling. A songbook produced by the Langley Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the longstanding event, included 17 songs such as “First Noel,” “Jingle Bells,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” and “Here Comes Santa Claus.” They also performed “Let it Snow,” and replaced the word snow with blow as an homage to the Nov. 17 windstorm that knocked out power to much of South Whidbey for at least a day.

At the cue of “Here Comes Santa Claus,” in he rumbled on the back seat of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle driven by his head elf. The men in costume were mayor-elect Tim Callison as the elf and Bob Waterman, a Langley resident and member of the city’s historic preservation commission, as Santa Claus.

Waterman donned the red-and-white suit, and provided the white beard on his own. Visiting with a few dozen children, eager to have their winter wishes heard by Saint Nick, Waterman said the only wish he had was for a quick escape from the outfit.

“That I could get out of this suit as fast as possible,” he said of his Christmas wish.

Organizers said the turnout was vastly improved from a year ago. Back in 2014 when the chamber held the Lighting of Langley, it was the same day as a heavy snow storm that made traveling a challenge.

More holiday-themed events are on the way for Langley. The Holly Jolly Parade is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 5.