Santa has arrived! Santa arrived Saturday morning and swept into town on a horse-drawn sleigh during the annual Christmas in the Village parade. (The reindeer are at home resting up for the big day.) He brought unusually good weather, good cheer, and good sales!

Christmas in the Village 2013. First graders prepare for the annual Christmas parade on Saturday morning.

American Legion Post 117 commander, Jerry Miller, and Jim Emery lead the way along Main Street and into town, up to the Mill Porch.

First graders marching in the Christmas in the Village parade. On their way to meet Santa! Photo by Anne Marie Miller

Each grade of Klager was represented, along with the Sheriff’s department, the fire department, and just a few friends.

Manchester’s preschool students rode on floats.

At the Mill Porch, Santa was presented the key to the Village and was more than happy to sit and listen to as many children’s wishes as was needed.

As Santa was finishing on the porch, a brand new group set up in the alley to play and bring cheer to the crowd as they walked through town shopping or getting lunch. Most of the kids that participated have only been playing guitar for about two and a half months, and strummed their ways into our hearts with a wonderful sing-along on a joyful Saturday morning.

NEW THIS YEAR:  Unforgettable Photos – Holiday Shopping Vendor Showcase –
Mary Bortmas invited home show vendors, like PartyLite , Thirty-One Gifts, and even Chef Jay Jacobs into her studio at 101 W. Main.  Items that normally would only be available as a catalog order were on hand to purchase that day.  Santa even made an appearance at the studio after he finished his lunch with the kids and hung out for photos.

Members of the Cultural Arts Strings (CAS) Program were on hand to spread some holiday cheer with their beautiful renditions of classic holiday songs.

Visitors to the parish center were greeted with a delightful treat, live music.

A large crowd gathered around to listen and applaud CAS’s performance.

After visiting with children on the Mill porch, Santa headed over to St. Mary’s Parish Center to have lunch with the children and listen to even more wishes.

There was a large craft show held at Sharon United Methodist Church at Pleasant Lake and M-52.   According to Donna Chambers, who was in charge of the event, there were thirty-three vendors, so many that they had to open up the side rooms.  She indicated that traffic was good throughout the day and thinks that all of the vendors did very well.

Lynn Heath from Oak Hill Farms brought honey, skincare products, beeswax candles and ornaments.  She sold at the American Legion craft show for years. This was her second year at the Sharon UMC craft show.  She stated that this year was even better than last year and that she did well in sales.

One unique gift idea at the Sharon UMC craft show was Miranda Kemeter’s spoon ornaments.  She purchased some inexpensive spoons and bent them in half, with the scoop side showing.  She then embellished the spoons with metal scrap booking items that she found in the craft store.  In addition to being beautiful, with such a large bend in the handle, there would be no problem with them staying on the Christmas tree!

Downstairs at the Manchester UMC, the annual craft show continued again this year.  The cookie walk was a hit again with the kids and the St. Mary’s Catholic ladies were loaded with home-baked items as they are every year.  Foot traffic, however, was a bit slower here this year.  It seemed that when people came in, they were looking for a gift for a specific person, not just shopping for items that caught their interest.

All of Chuck Cornell’s pieces are painstakingly cut on a scroll saw, stained, and finished in what must simply be a labor of love.  Chuck is retired from the Sheriff’s department and spends about 10 hours a day in his shop on woodworking. This Noah’s Ark piece took about 13 hours solely to cut out.  Isn’t it beautiful?

One of the most memorable parts of Christmas in the Village for many is the free sleigh ride!!  Our hosts this year were “Weed” and “Dusty” and though they were tired by the end of the day, they pulled family after family through the town creating memories.  The owners, who were professional and sweet, gave them treats of pumpkin flavored marshmallows and even allowed the children to feed the horses their treats.

Inside Emanuel United there was still bustling activity at the end of the day.  There were fifteen vendors and three non-profits packed into the basement.  Emanuel also hosts an annual German bake sale which is the highlight of the day to many.  Those we spoke with indicated that traffic had been steady all day and was even better than last year.  Next year, they may increase the space used for vendors as they have a room down the hall that can be utilized.  They are currently maxed out for the space that was used this year.

One neat thing the Emanuel craft sale did was to have all the vendors each donate an item which was later raffled off. For the price of one ticket, you could have a beautiful gift from the room. One of the vendors was Kathy Fusilier, selling her hand made wreaths.

One new event this year was an art sale organized by the local art club held in the old Unforgettable Photos building. In addition to prominent local artists displaying and selling their work, Fritz Swanson, a letterpress printer and printing historian, gave letterpress demos and handed out free prints all day.