OLD ORCHARD BEACH — If it is December in southern Maine, it is time for Celebration by the Sea, an annual Old Orchard Beach event that culminates with a tree lighting in Veterans Memorial Park.

Old Orchard Beach Chamber of Commerce, Libby Memorial Library and Veterans Memorial Park are hosts. The event begins at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, with a scavenger hunt that starts at the Chamber headquarters on First Street, followed by crafts at the Chamber building and at Libby Memorial Library, hot cocoa and cookies, and municipal trucks on the street all decked out for people to admire.

Santa and Mrs. Claus are poised to arrive by trolley at about 4:15 p.m. and the Grinch arrives — in a police cruiser — soon thereafter to host a dance party in the park. Next comes a Salvation Army Ensemble. The tree lighting and caroling is set for 5:45 p.m.