Christmas is coming to Dunmore Corners.
The Dunmore Business Association will hold its fourth annual Christmas in the Corners on Sunday from 3 to 7:30 p.m. throughout Dunmore Corners, featuring nearly four dozen tents along East Drinker Street from participating businesses and organizations — all of whom will be giving something away for free, ranging from candy and hot chocolate to arts and crafts to a silent disco experience, Mayor Max Conway said. Conway helped found the business association and co-organizes Dunmore’s newfound Christmas tradition, which replaced the borough’s “Home for the Holidays” after the annual event ended during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other festivities Sunday include face painting, a caricature artist, raffles and giveaways, food trucks and vendors on Chestnut Street, live reindeer, superheroes and princesses for photos, professional photos with Santa at the Bucktown Center, a carousel, train rides for kids off Chestnut Street, live music, a dance performance and, to cap the night off, a 7 p.m. tree lighting at Dunmore’s newest green space. Dunmore will use Christmas in the Corners to showcase its newly completed renovations to its pocket park and community green space at 211 E. Drinker St.
Volunteers light the Christmas tree at the pocket park on East Drinker St. in Dunmore on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Council voted in September to contract with Lawn & Order for just shy of $49,000 to revitalize the empty lot, which the borough purchased last year for $90,000. Dunmore funded the project using fines from the Keystone Sanitary Landfill.
The state Department of Environmental Protection ordered the Louis and Dominick DeNaples-owned landfill to pay $575,000 in civil penalties in a March 29, 2024, consent order and agreement that was the culmination of 14 odor-related violations in just over a year, numerous odor complaints and at least 70 instances of DEP staff detecting offsite landfill odors. The settlement stipulated that the landfill must set aside $180,000 for its two host municipalities — Dunmore and Throop — to use for community environmental projects.
Between the landfill’s fines and a slew of donations from the community, Conway expects that, ultimately, the project won’t cost the borough a dollar.
Work on the park wrapped up for the year in November, with additional renovations and a dedication ceremony planned for next year, Conway said. This year, crews installed new sidewalks in front of the park, put in decorative bricks, installed a donated fence, planted grass and did other landscaping, Conway said.
“It’s going to really look spectacular over there,” he said.
Next year, work will entail running electricity to the site and adding memorial benches and picnic tables, he said. The memorial benches and tables will be donated by community members to honor loved ones, Conway said, adding that he’s already had residents contacting him about memorializing their loved ones at the green space.
He expects to open the application process for benches and tables in early 2026.
Organizers have integrated the lot into Christmas in the Corners in previous years, but this year, they will especially make use of the property.
In addition to setting up a large Christmas tree on the land, organizers will use the site to make announcements, and the children’s choirs of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and SS. Anthony and Rocco parishes will perform there, Conway said.
“I think it’ll be a lot of people’s first time seeing it,” Conway said of the land. “Christmas in the Corners — what it’s turned into, it’s not just a Dunmore event, it’s really like a Northeastern PA event.”
Last year, about 2,000 people attended, and with the holiday event consistently growing each year, Conway expects an even larger turnout on Sunday.
“I don’t see it slowing down,” he said. “The place is truly packed.”
Christmas in the Corners started in 2022 with the idea of a simple tree lighting that had about a dozen tents setup in the Fidelity Bank parking lot. Then, 2023 had around 22 tents, about 40 in 2024 and now, in 2025, they are at capacity with 45 tents, Conway said. Each tent was advised to prepare to give away about 500 of whatever they’re offering, he said. He credited his co-organizers, Brianna Pelucacci, Katie Hart, Carmella Casey and Cara Lowe.
In addition to the tents, Christmas in the Corners will raffle off 35-plus bicycles for kids, along with other prizes.
Christmas isn’t a cheap holiday, Conway said.
“People feel the pressure to spend during the holidays, and this is an opportunity for people to come, not spend a dime, not open your wallet if you don’t want to, and really just come up and enjoy what so many generous members of our community provided for them,” he said.