For Craig and Dan Casterella, the Christmas season never ends. “It’s Christmas all year round,” Craig Casterella said. “24/7.” The cousins work for American Christmas — Dan Casterella is the CEO and Craig Casterella is the managing director of the Mid-Atlantic office. The company is behind iconic holiday displays in Manhattan, such as the Saks Fifth Avenue façade, Radio City Music Hall and other areas around Rockefeller Center.

But the company doesn’t only bring Christmas cheer to New York City. Since 2020, it’s been bringing magic to Howard County with a winter wonderland display at the Color Burst Ice Rink in the Merriweather District.

“Basically, what we’re doing is we’re taking what we started here in New York, and we’re starting to replicate it now around the country,” Dan Casterella said.

The Columbia display, with its 28-foot Christmas tree and crisscrossing lights above the ice-skating rink, is Craig Casterella’s favorite in the region. He avoids comparing smaller towns to Christmas decor in New York City, which he calls a “beast of its own.”

“For me, the fact that we’re able to even do this type of décor package in Columbia, Maryland, out of all places, is truly astonishing,” Craig Casterella said. “And I think it’s something that the community should truly be grateful for, because not a lot of communities around the country can have something like this so accessible.”

Craig Casterella referred to the Columbia winter wonderland as his “baby,” growing it from 2020 and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, to an event that will draw 400 to 500 people on weekends. While the decorations were much less extravagant the first year, seeing the project from start to finish and then watching diverse groups come together was rewarding.

“That’s our main goal is we make people happy. We make people have fun,” Craig Casterella said. “We’re making sure people have memories to pass down to others in their family, and I think that’s the most important part for me.”

After spending eight years as a volunteer firefighter in New York and connecting with his community, Craig Casterella wanted to connect with communities in Maryland. Then at the age of 30, he found another reason to make an impact on the lives of others — a cancer diagnosis.

While in the hospital, Craig Casterella said, he started to realize what’s truly important in life. He often thought about younger people who are battling the disease and how he could help, especially around the holidays. Now he’s organized toy drives at some of the properties he manages with American Christmas and hopes to add one to Columbia next year.

Though the holidays aren’t over, “we’re on next Christmas already,” Dan Casterella said. Planning for next year’s Columbia display will begin around Jan. 15, Craig Casterella said.

When the Columbia decorations are taken down, they’re put into boxes and stored at a warehouse in Hyattsville, Craig Casterella said. Then they go through the refurbishment process, one of the first steps in preparation for the next year, where each branch, light and ornament is inspected. At the same time, the company is organizing warehouses, getting contracts in order, onboarding new properties and purchasing items from the 44 global warehouses. Then planning the logistics of how to get tools, hardware, trucks and laborers yo each site begins.

The company starts hiring laborers in August, Dan Casterella said. All sorts of people, from Alaskan fishermen to teachers to international workers join the team to set up decorations. “You basically give up everything” during the 10 to 12 weeks around the installation season, working in a 24-hour, high-intensity operation, Dan Casterella said. Still, through all the stress, “it’s the best time of year,” he said.

“Our stuff is done in the public space, so we walk around like we’re anyone else, and we’re watching people take pictures, and we’re watching them just smile in front of our decorations,” Dan Casterella said. “And that’s the most rewarding thing out there.”

Columbia residents and viewers can enjoy the winter wonderland through the New Year with the ice-skating rink open until Jan. 31. As skaters, viewers and Christmas tree lovers come to enjoy the scene, Craig Casterella’s message for the holiday season is to “come together, have fun and enjoy the little things.”

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