Dowagiac rings in the holiday season with open house weekend
Published 9:58 am Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Photo courtesy VICKIE PHILLIPSON
Photo courtesy VICKIE PHILLIPSON
Photo courtesy VICKIE PHILLIPSON
Photo courtesy VICKIE PHILLIPSON
Photo courtesy VICKIE PHILLIPSON
Photo courtesy VICKIE PHILLIPSON
Dowagiac kicked off its holiday season Saturday with Christmas Open House Weekend’s Family Activity Day, hosted by the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce. An Old-World Santa greeted families within Wood Fire Italian Trattoria, where children made packets of Magic Reindeer Dust with Mrs. Claus, courtesy of the Miss Dowagiac Scholarship Pageant, celebrating its 80th year of pageantry.
Children also enjoyed seeing Whitney Podell’s miniature horses and this year’s new celebrity, the Elf on the Shelf. Families enjoyed roasting marshmallows at Beckwith Park, and performances by MKSOD and Positively Dance. New this year, Dowagiac Union High School marching band and choir also performed. Dowagiac’s holiday celebration, which also includes Small Business Saturday and the Dec. 7 Candle-light Christmas Parade, is co-hosted by Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital.
Corporate sponsors of the celebration, include: The Business Center of Southwest Michigan, Chemical Bank, Clark Chapel/Starks Family Funeral Homes, Cass County Council on Aging/Front Street Crossing, Deck the Halls, Dowagiac Area Federal Credit Union, Dowagiac Area History Museum, Edward Jones Office of Kim MacGregor, Imperial Furniture, John A. Vylonis Custom Building, Mahar Insurance, May Oberfell Lorber, The Timbers of Cass County and Vincent J. Jewelers.
