“Are you real?” Connor Kelly, 5, asked Santa before climbing onto his lap Friday night in The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce office. Santa stayed wisely silent, leaving it up to mom, Sabrina Kelly, center holding Caleb Kelly, 4, to answer. “That’s a silly question,” she said, earning a nod from Mrs. Claus, who passed out candy canes to dozens of children during the community gathering on the Second Street chamber grounds that followed the annual Starlight Parade through the downtown blocks. The chamber served more than 300 bags of popcorn and an equal amount of hot chocolate and cookies to the crowd which had come out to enjoy the parade and tree lighting. The chamber is now urging people to “Shop Local” for Christmas gifts to support area merchants.