ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — The countdown to Christmas has begun and The Wharf is filling up those numbered days.

With visits from Santa, the inaugural island Christmas parade and fireworks, The Wharf will carry the torch for holiday events.

“It’s going to be very family-oriented, fun, traditional,” special event coordinator Lesley Dethloff said. “The community needs things to bring us together right now and gives us a reason to forget our troubles and celebrate.”

Until Christmas, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Santa Clause will be traveling to the coast from the North Pole every Saturday.

“Santa will be on hand to meet and have free pictures taken at the tree,” Dethloff said. “He will greet children, pets or grownups who want to see him.”

Pictures will be taken by The Wharf and uploaded to the Web site, thewharfal.com, where they can be viewed, downloaded and e-mailed for free.

“Our first annual Pleasure Island Christmas Parade is the newest tradition we are adding,” Dethloff said. “It is a community focused event and we are going to have everything from school groups to civic organizations, community leaders and business owner.”

The parade will roll on Dec. 13 at noon on The Wharf grounds. Following the parade that day, the Nautical parade will float in about 5:30 p.m. and Dethloff invites all to spend the afternoon, get dinner and stay for the show.

Christmas choirs will appear throughout the month and their dates can be found on The Wharf Web site.