By Staff
Roasting chestnuts tantalize the crisp air, while the music of street carolers, who stroll past the Victorian-styled 1800s storefronts, melds with the click-ity-clack of horses' shoes and the laughter of children sitting atop the lap of an Old-World Santa.
Not unlike a fairytale, the sights and sounds of the Yuletide season will unfold before the faces of anxious, bright-eyed children as the Old-Fashioned Christmas Celebration returns to historic Dowagiac with Holiday Open House Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 20 and 21, and continues Friday, Dec. 3, with one of southwestern Michigan's largest holiday parades.
Vickie Phillipson, program director of Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Development Authority, said she is pleased to announce this year's six corporate sponsors of the Christmas celebration, Dr. Matthew Cripe, Felpausch Food Center, Gary Booth of Landmark Mortgage Co. and Standard Federal Bank, with in-kind sponsors Leader Publications and Q-92 radio.
Phillipson said several new activities and organizations have joined this year's Open House Weekend, where most events will be centered in and around Beckwith Park on Saturday, Nov. 20, from noon to 3:30 p.m., and on Sunday, Nov. 21, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Hailing from his Sinterklaus Farm in Berrien Springs, the Old-World Victorian Santa Dick Schinkel, who for the past several years has captivated the hearts of wide-eyed children and adults, will greet youngsters on both Saturday and Sunday at Beckwith Park, where parents are encouraged to bring their cameras.
As a special treat on Sunday, children can have their photo taken while they sit beside the Victorian Santa in the Cinderella-styled snow-white carriage owned by Jack Fryman of Dowagiac.
Children will receive a free 200-page holiday coloring book.
Distribution of the complimentary Christmas gifts was initiated in 1999 by the host organization as a means to provide something special for area children. "Chamber of Commerce staff and volunteers wanted to again do something special for our youngsters, as we launch this special season of giving," Phillipson said.
Also for the younger set, children who attend downtown activities on Saturday will be able to sign up for Santa's Holiday Christmas Basket, filled with toys and candy, and topped by a giant, plush holiday reindeer.