AURELIUS - When Zachary Denman, 3, and his grandmother Charlene Teeter went shopping Saturday for winter apparel at the Fingerlakes Mall, the pair got a very pleasant surprise.

Not only were they treated to a parade featuring live music ,but they were just in time to witness the season's arrival of Santa.

“Santa has good cookies,” Zachary announced while watching Santa take his customary seat at the edge of the food court in the mall Saturday morning.

Teeter said she didn't realize that Santa would be making his annual visit to the mall when she had planned their shopping trip but was happy to stop and watch the excitement.

Although Teeter said that Zachary was still a bit shy for sitting on Santa's lap he was more than happy to announce that he was looking forward to Santa bringing him a new tractor for Christmas.

He was also enchanted by the gifts that were already placed under the Christmas tree near Santa's seat.

Although the annual arrival of Santa began with the customary tradition of parading him through the halls, mall manager Diane Jurczak-Prue said that this year the parade was open to the public.

“In past years the parade was formed by the band and local youth groups,” she said.

“But this year we thought it would be nice to let visiting children help parade him through the mall. It adds to the excitement for the kids.”

The parade was led by the local band Soda Ash 6 who belted out traditional Christmas tunes before settling into the upstairs hall for an afternoon of live music.

Bass Pro Shops started the morning of seasonal events with their Christmas tree lighting.

“It was a great turnout,” said mall marketing manager Tracie Murphy. “It is nice to see such a big community involvement.”

Stephen Conklin, visiting the event with his son, Christopher Conklin, 2, said that this is the first year that his son is really starting to understand the concept of Christmas and Santa Claus. And this was apparent by the two-handed wave that Christopher was proud to give to Santa. Stephen said that the wave was dubbed Christopher's “crazy wave.”

Jurczak-Prue said that the arrival of Santa is only the first of many holiday events and happenings that will take place at the mall from now until Christmas.

“The mall Web site is updated regularly to include the times and dates of these events,” she said.