ThisWeek CW 12/12/2013
It truly was a white Christmas in the Village this year with a winter storm bearing down on Canal Winchester just in time for the weekend event.
The annual Christmas in the Village celebration was hampered somewhat by the weather on Friday night, Dec. 6, as it kept the horse-drawn carriages and kiddie train off the streets, but according to Canal Winchester Public Works Director Matt Peoples, everyone who came out still had a wonderful time.
“The snow coming down in the middle of the event really made for a great winter scene,” Peoples said. “I’d say we had about as many people out for the event both days as we were expecting, regardless of the weather.”
Destination: Canal Winchester Executive Director Bruce Jarvis agreed that the snow really added atmosphere, even if it meant canceling a couple of activities.
“Downtown was really pretty with the snow coming down,” Jarvis said. “Thanks are due to the volunteers and city for making this happen — especially the local businesses that really dressed the block for the holidays.”
Jarvis said he was very thankful to the Hummel family for providing their vintage tractors to provide at least one hayride option for visitors, even though the horse-drawn carriages couldn’t make it.
Peoples added that even though the carriages didn’t run on Friday night, the ice sculpture demonstration had the kids standing in line.
“The sculptors do all sorts of things with the blocks of ice, but the favorite with the kids seems to be getting their names carved into the blocks and there was a line for that,” Peoples said. “The whole event was a lot of fun.”
The poor weather canceled the roaming carolers as well, but Mastermix DJ Services owner Mike Walker was able to set up an impromptu sound system to play all the holiday classics, Jarvis said.
“I really want to thank Walker for making that happen,” he said. “Events like this help make memories and we’re proud to have a hand in that.”