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Wapak's season greeting: Unseasonable weather ushers in Holiday Open House weekend |
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Monday, 09 November 2009 |
By MATT NICHOLS
Staff Writer
While the weekend temperatures did not exactly match up with the holiday music echoing downtown, local shop owners certainly welcomed the sunny and unseasonably warm introduction to the holiday season.
Patrons crammed Auglaize Street this weekend, each pining for that special unique gift during the Wapakoneta Antique and Specialty Shops’ (WASS) annual Holiday Open House.
From Friday through Sunday, WASS businesses opened their doors to shoppers with special sales, cookies and refreshments.
The event, held the first weekend of November, is the perfect way to kick off the holidays, WASS member Landa Tomlinson said.
“It’s a little early, but a lot of times we find that we need to get people before they hit the malls,” the Casa Chic owner said. “We have such a unique variety of things that people just love to find.”
Along with the sales, patrons could take advantage of sleigh rides to travel up and down Auglaize Street Saturday, and Christmas tunes trumpeted out of speakers throughout the downtown.
“The city puts that on for us, the lights and the music,” Tomlinson said. “They’re real cooperative with us. They make it real festive.”
The annual event is a big weekend for shoppers and as a family get-together. Tomlinson said some friends, from opposite sides of town use the weekend as a time and place to meet.
“We’ll get people from Indiana and people from eastern Ohio who will meet right here in Wapak,” Tomlinson said.
Patrons who browsed items at Gild the Lily this weekend were treated to snacks and owner Glenna McCormick’s famous warm cider.
Standing at the checkout counter, McCormick admitted the cider was not a necessity for this year’s event.
“On a day like this with as warm as it is, you don’t need it too much,” McCormick said glancing out her front window. “But we’ll take it. A sunshine like this just makes everything sparkle.”
McCormick said the occasion brings in regular shoppers as well as families they see only once a year.
A lot of families, both in and around Wapakoneta, take the weekend very seriously, she said.
“It’s a big deal for folks, and they really look forward to it,” McCormick said. “They mark it down.”
Christmas decorations could be found throughout McCormick’s shop, including the front window. McCormick said it took the better part of a month to plan and decorate the window. The store owner said she takes a lot of pride in the decorations in her shop — more so than her efforts at home.
“I don’t do too much decorating at my house,” McCormick said. “I spend all my time decorating here, so to me, it’s like having Christmas at my house.”
Standing in her shop on Blackhoof Street, The Bookmark owner Charlotte Williams said this year the open house shared the same weekend with a number of other events in the city. The additional events, she said, were likely a boost for the open house.
“It’s fantastic that it’s all coming together at once,” Williams said. “There’s no way anyone could be bored this weekend. There was something nice all over town to get people out of the house.”
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 10 November 2009 )
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