Village set for lights, contests, Santa

From the Thursday, November 27, 2008 edition of the Northwest Herald:

Village set for lights, contests, Santa
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com

RICHMOND – Jon and Jane Bodi usually outline their Richmond home in colored lights for Christmas.

Then they make sure to string a different colored set of lights on each tree or bush near the house. They add a few plastic yard decorations here and there. And then they put a large, lifelike Santa Claus on the roof near the chimney.

And before they knew it, last Christmas their home won first place in the Clark Griswold House Decorating Contest during Richmond’s Christmas of Yesteryear.

“We’ve always done quite a bit,” Jane Bodi said. “We light up the whole neighborhood. ... It’s a tradition thing.”

The annual winter festival – and another round of the Clark Griswold House Decorating Contest – returns to Richmond this weekend.

Festivities start at 5 p.m. Friday, when Santa Claus will arrive in downtown Richmond aboard an antique firetruck. He will join residents at the gazebo on Route 12 and Broadway Street for the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.

After the tree lighting, there will be caroling, crafts and holiday snacks at Memorial Hall, 10308 Main St. From 6 to 8 p.m., children can visit with Santa, and the first 100 children who meet with him will receive a pair of 3D glasses.

The festival, sponsored this year by Richmond Business Partners, will pick up again Saturday at 11 a.m. with free wagon rides. In Memorial Hall, there will be more time with Santa, children’s crafts, and refreshments until 3 p.m.

Meanwhile, downtown, festival organizers are sponsoring a shopping game dubbed the Candy Cane Caper, to encourage people to do their holiday shopping in Richmond. Players will get a list of items to search for inside downtown businesses while they’re shopping for gifts. Participating businesses will have a sign in the window letting shoppers know there’s a clue hidden inside.

“It’s something to get people to come into the stores,” organizer Jeanne Doyle said. “It’ll get them moving around town.”

There will be breakfast with Santa from 9 a.m. to noon Sunday at Memorial Hall for $5. Wagon rides, crafts and Candy Cane Caper will continue from noon to 3 p.m., and Santa visits will continue until 2 p.m.

“It feels like a small-town Christmas,” organizer Nannette Dorfler said. “It brings back warm childhood memories.”

Residents also are encouraged to enter their homes into the second annual Clark Griswold House Decorating Contest by Sunday. Winners will receive gift certificates up to $150 and will be selected Dec. 16.

To enter the contest or for information, call 815-678-4124.

What: Christmas of Yesteryear.
Where: Downtown Richmond.
When: 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
For information: Call 815-678-4124.
To download children’s coloring contest pictures or for information, visit www.richmondil.com/christmas/.