Vinnie Ciampoli, his wife Chiffon and their daughter Genoa Ciampoli, 11, helped children write letters to Santa Claus at the Ramona Christmas tree lighting ceremony.
They told the children they could check a box to show whether they were naughty or nice this year and share one thing they did that was particularly nice. The letter – “to be placed in the North Pole Christmas Wish Register” – also included space to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas this year.
Ramona Chamber of Commerce board member Vinnia Ciampoli said his family decided to pitch in and help coordinate the traditional letter-writing campaign to bring joy to the Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event Dec. 7 on Main Street.
“We love our community and we love seeing these young people enjoying their time with Santa,” Ciampoli said as he collected letters near the station set up for photos with Santa at Ramona City Hall.
Right in front of City Hall, a group of RJAD dancers held a bake sale fundraiser.
Brooklyn Myrick, 13, an eighth-grader at Olive Peirce Middle School, was among the dancers selling peanut butter chocolate and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies as well as cinnamon swirls and lemon cupcakes to raise money to support dancers on RJAD competition teams.
Money raised will help cover costume fees and transportation to competitions in the jazz-ballet combination's ballet, tap, jazz, character dance, contemporary, hip-hop and lyrical dance competitions, Myrick said.
Another variety of pumpkin caused a stir at the tree lighting event.
Wylie Weldy of Ramona greeted guests in the steampunk-style pumpkin-shaped carriage he built with his wife, Dawn Sardinas.
They started working on it in 2016, got married this year and recently completed the project, Weldy said. Her carriage rental company is called The Punkin Project.
Weldy, owner of Fabrication Solutions, worked on welding the metal and adding the axles, while Sardinas designed the interior and lighting. The carriage is not street legal and is therefore towed to weddings and other events so that guests can sit in it and have their photos taken, the couple said.
The car can accommodate up to 16 people and is equipped with four-wheel drive to take adventurous people off-road.
Sardinas said they brainstormed ideas for some type of people-moving device and developed it into a wagon and then a carriage. She said it became one of the most famous carriages of all – a Cinderella-style carriage – with a rusty patina that gave it an aged appearance.
“This project was like our child,” said the aptly named Weldy. “We built this pumpkin cart in our backyard and then started the welding business.”
Further down the street there were numerous other vintage and modern vehicles on display.
James Tobiason of Ramona showed off his shiny yellow 1960 Ford F-250 4X4, which he said took a year and a half to restore.
Tobiason said he replaced the engine, converted it from a manual to an automatic and added three-point seat belts to ensure safety since the older model did not have airbags.
“I like seeing all the old cars,” he said.
He goes to the Ramona American Graffiti Cruise nights, he said. In October, the vehicle was awarded a plaque at the Ramona AutoFest car show.
Many merchants sold their wares next to the shops on Main Street. Dana Hurlbert said that as an independent salesperson for the Scentsy home decor and fragrance store, she had good success selling scented waxes and warmers to the masses.
Next to her was Frye Mechanical owner Allen Frye, who said he came to the event to connect with new and existing customers.
The Ramona-based company provides residential and commercial HVAC, heating, ventilation and air conditioning services including repairs, service, maintenance and installation from San Ysidro to Los Angeles to El Centro. The company has donated sports equipment to Ramona High School girls wrestling and the Ramona 10U All Stars and sponsored the garden at Barnett Elementary School, Frye said.
“This is my first year here at the event and it has been absolutely worth it,” said Frye, who founded the company in 2015.
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