When you think of baseball you generally think of warm weather, hot dogs, and singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” What you don’t think of is snow, hot chocolate, reindeer, or Christmas carols. However, the Reading Fightin Phils decided to change that fact during the offseason a few years ago.

They introduced Christmas at the Stadium.

Beginning the weekend of Thanksgiving and continuing up through Christmas Eve, FirstEnergy Stadium was decked out in colorful lights, played host to Santa and a few of his reindeer, and invited local music groups to perform every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. Families were invited to come out and enjoy the lights, music, food, and visit with Santa at no cost. It was a great event and my sister and I were excited to participate. In all of our excitement, we forgot one simple fact.

November and December in Pennsylvania can be very cold. Also, sometimes it snows.

I remember very clearly huddling in a corner wearing three shirts, a hoodie, the apron we were supposed to wear, a Santa hat, and gloves and I was still cold. Unlike the baseball season when it can be sunny and 70 degrees even in the evening, it was generally closer to 40 degrees or colder and occasionally windy.

Oh, and we were still selling ice cream.

Now, we were not in our typical stand at the top of the stadium so we did not have as strong of an air current to deal with. However, we were also dealing with a much more open stand that had a larger window for the cold air to pass through. It also never got overly busy so we were never moving around much during the time we were there.

One thing that was really fun was when we got to work in the food truck that was parked inside the stadium by the concessions stands. We were selling desserts from a local pastry company and it was fun taking orders and handing out food from the truck. It was also much warmer than being in the concession stand.

Due to the location of the stand we were working in and the fact that we were also selling hot coffee and hot chocolate, we were generally one of the first and last stops people made on the way into and out of the ballpark. It was also a prime location to listen to the music for the evening. I loved being able to see all of the lights that were strung across the protective netting over the plaza and all across the different stands in the plaza. The decorating didn’t stop there though. It stretched all the way down through the main concourse and even included a snow tunnel where visitors were able to meet and take pictures with Olaf.

Even our little ice cream stand at the top of the grandstand got decorated!

Although we couldn’t see all the decorations from our location, each night we listened to the special Christmas light show set up on the field. The field – from home plate to the centerfield wall – was covered in different light displays that danced in time to a number of different Christmas songs. It got to the point where we had heard the show so many times that we knew what songs or video clips were coming up next without ever seeing the show.

Confessional: Have you ever attended an event at a sports arena that was not the sport it was intended for? What was the event and what was your favorite part?

In the end, despite the cold and sometimes miserable weather, it was a fun experience. I can also honestly say that I have never eaten as much chicken noodle soup as I did during that month. It’s amazing how good a hot cup of soup can taste after spending three hours standing outside in the cold serving ice cream and hot chocolate.

There was something fun about being at the baseball stadium with it all lit up with Christmas lights and listening to Christmas music. It was definitely not your typical baseball stadium experience.