By Staff
People who jump-start their holiday shopping Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 19 and 20, during the Old-Fashioned Christmas Celebration of Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce, will have an opportunity to win $100 in Universal Dowagiac Gift Certificates, as a children's drawing awards a basket of toys and candy to a lucky girl and boy, plus the chance to ride with Jolly Ol' St. Nick in this community's Candlelight Christmas Parade on Dec. 2.
The Chamber of Commerce, which is co-sponsoring the weekend drawing for adults, is teaming up with 10 participating specialty shops to award four people with $25 in Universal Dowagiac Gift Certificates to supplement their holiday shopping budgets.
According to Vickie Phillipson, program director of the Chamber and Downtown Development Authority, and chairman of the Old-Fashioned
Christmas Celebration, shoppers can only register for the gift certificate
and children's drawings during Open House Weekend.
encourages people to visit our specialty stores, such as The Wren's Nest,
which will be marking its first Christmas season in business, as well as
such long-time merchants as Murphy's Flowers &Greenhouses,” Phillipson
said. “Registering is easy. People can sign up for the drawing every time
they make a purchase at one of the participating stores.”
The 10 host sites are: Apparel Alternatives, Booth's Country Florist,
Harding's Friendly Market, Imperial Furniture, Laurie Anne's, The Marshall
Shoppe, Murphy's Flowers &Greenhouses, Suite Dreams, Vincent J.Jewelers
and The Wren's Nest.
Phillipson said while many of these businesses are typically closed on
Sundays, Christmas Open House Weekend, Nov. 19 and 20, also signals the
start of extended hours at several of Dowagiac's specialty shops that will
be open Sundays through the holiday season. During Open House Sunday, the
participating stores will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For the second consecutive year, the Chamber of Commerce is also featuring a
children's drawing that will award a boy and girl with a Christmas basket
stuffed with toys and candy. Youngsters who attend activities held at the
Beckwith Park during Open House Weekend can meet Miss Dowagiac Courtney
Dufour and her court, which will be on hand to assist children sign-up for
the free drawing.
The Old-Fashioned Christmas Celebration Nov. 19 &20 also features an
Old-World Victorian Santa, the miniature horses and Sicilian donkeys of
Bayside Farms, and horse-drawn wagon rides presented by the Cass County
Draft Horse &Mule Club. Festival activities will be held in and around the
Beckwith Park, downtown.
Street food vendors feature Caruso's Candy Kitchen's hand-dipped chocolates,
hot chocolate and coffee; and the “firehouse chili” of the Dowagiac Fire
Department Ambulance Service. At the streetcorner booth of the Town and
Country Garden Club, which will be situated in front of Suite Dreams at
Front and Commercial streets, shoppers can purchase Douglas Fir living
wreaths.
Families that attend the celebration will enjoy both vocal and instrumental
holiday music, presented Saturday and Sunday during festival hours.
Performances will feature: About Time; Footlight Player's Victorian
vocalists; carolers from Southwestern Michigan College combined choirs,
Dowagiac Union Choirs and Holy Maternity of Mary Catholic Church; vocalists
Nina Davuluri, Miss Southwest Michigan Outstanding Teen 2006 from St. Joseph
and Tiffany Michelle Griffin, Miss Southwest Michigan 2006 from Buchanan;
along with students of Miss Kathy's School of Dance and Positively Dance.
Festival hours are from noon to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19, and from
noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20, during which time families can purchase a
ribbon for display on the Cass County Hospice Tree of Remembrance, located
at the Beckwith Park.
Corporate sponsors of this year's Old-Fashioned Christmas Celebration, which
includes the Dec. 2 Candle-light Christmas Parade, are A-1 Expert Tree
Service, Gary Booth of Landmark Mortgage Group, Dr. Matthew Cripe, Felpausch
Food Center, First National Bank, Fryman's Construction and LaSalle Bank.
To receive a schedule of events or to sign up to appear in the Dec. 2
Candlelight Christmas Parade, call the Chamber of Commerce at 782-8212.