This year’s Santa Lucia is a Winfield student and she will take part in the annual ceremony this Sunday at the Swedesburg Parish Hall.

This year’s Lucia is Lilly Heckethorn. She is a junior at Winfield Community High School and is an active member of the basketball, softball and dance teams. She is also a member of the National Honor Society, student leadership, art club, and family and consumer science.

Santa Lucia’s Day is celebrated every year on December 13. It is a Christian Feast Day commemorating the martyr Lucia of Syracuse, who lit the way with a candle-lit wreath while providing aid to Christians hiding in Rome. At one point, the day was the shortest day of the year. Therefore, the day is celebrated as a festival of light.

The ceremony begins at 6 p.m. The crowning of Santa Lucia is an annual tradition put on by the Swedish American Museum and Historical Society in Swedesburg.