By Staff
Mulled cider tantalizes 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 Dowagiac Old-Fashioned Christmas Celebration returns to historic Dowagiac with Holiday Open House Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 19 and 20, and continues Friday, Dec. 2, with one of southwestern Michigan's largest holiday parades.
Vickie Phillipson, program director of the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Development Authority, who organized the event, said she is pleased to announce this year's seven corporate sponsors of the Christmas celebration, which are A-1 Expert Tree Service, Dr. Matthew Cripe, Felpausch Food Center, First National Bank, Fryman's Construction, Gary Booth of Landmark Mortgage Group and LaSalle Bank.
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. 19, from noon to 3:30 p.m., and on Sunday, Nov. 20, from noon to 3 p.m.
Hailing from his Sinterklaus Farm in Berrien Springs, the Old-World Victorian Santa, 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. “Indeed, organizers are as delighted as the children will be to have this beautiful carriage available to us for pictures, as it sets the stage for an afternoon straight out of a storybook,” Phillipson said.
Phillipson initiated the distribution of the complimentary Christmas gifts 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.”