It’s an Old Fashion Christmas

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

By Jane Adams and Gary Weaver
Staff Writers

Minus a few snowflakes, the weather for the 17th annual Old Fashion Christmas was perfect. The temperature was 31 degrees at dusk, with a slight wind.

London Mayor David Eades touched on that theme stating the weather was “perfect, a little nippy, which is nice, and no rain. All that’s missing is maybe a little bit of snow falling.”

Eades was beaming when he talked about this event and what it means to the city and its citizens.

“We had some great crowds. It started off kind of slow, but then people started showing up,” Eades said. “Every where I went there were big crowds and big lines. Several merchants told me the event was bigger than last year.”

Which is precisely what Eades had in mind when he came into office in 1992. He said that first year, there was a tree lighting, and a handful of merchants had individual events. He wasn’t sure this event would become the size it has, but he was hopeful.

“This events means it’s Christmas season,” Eades said. “It’s turned out excellent. And the beauty is that the merchants are cooperating and doing a great job, we have the carriage rides now, and carolers. The event sort of runs itself. And even with the economy tight like it is, people support it. And that’s very encouraging.”

Especially for parents of small children who are just beginning to learn the meaning of a community Christmas.

Karen Anderson brought her daughter to Old Fashion Christmas for the first time last night, and the carriage rides were the first thing they did.

“We wanted to start off with the carriage rides and then we are going to go to the library,” she said. “It is just something that I can do with my daughter, something nice that we can share together.”

For the sixth year, Yvonne Hiteshue has been heading the Women’s Club of London’s Candy Shoppe sale. Her organization took over the event from the Newport Fire Department, which ran it for several years. Hiteshue, president of the Woman’s Club, said this event and the candy sale is a perfect marriage.

“We’ve had a saying around here that we don’t sell candies, we sell memories,” Hiteshue said. “We sell those candies that have a real sentimental or nostalgic value to people. Like orange slices and chocolate drops. And our most requested item is English toffee.”

Hiteshue said the sale generates 20,000 pounds of candy and the woman’s club starts preparing for the Nov. 11 through Dec. 23 sale during the summer.

“Plus we make the ultimate sacrifice in testing the candies ourselves,” Hiteshue exclaimed. “This event is just wonderful for the city and it really kicks off the Christmas season.”

Sisters Mikayla Fields, 3, and Mikynzi Fields, 1, took a ride on the carriage with their parents. Mikayla nodded when asked if she liked the horses before turning to her mother and whispering that she wanted to ride again, which they did a few minutes later.

Besides the carriage rides, music was another central theme of the event as various community bands and choirs performed Christmas music.

London High School Students Sara Cavallaro, Susanna Lauer and Kelsey Lauer played with the London High School Concert Band.

“We are playing Christmas tunes like “Grinch,” “Santa’s Coming to Town,” “Winter Wonderland” and “Christmas Ole,’” said freshman Susanna Lauer who plays flute.

Her sister Kelsey, who is a junior and plays alto saxophone, said she enjoys playing with the band at the celebration, but also walking up and down the street afterwards.

“I come out here a lot, my parents would go home and I have walked around for the past couple of years,” she said. “It is just something different and it gets me away from everything else.”

The director of the band, Craig Lewis, said he enjoys bringing the students out to play.

“This is a yearly tradition and we enjoy doing it,” Lewis said. “It is part of the whole revelry that we have here during the Christmas season and it is always an opportunity to see families out here for a good time on the main street in London.”

A couple of city council members were walking around with their families and enjoying the evening.

“It’s not raining and this just feels like Christmas,” said council member Rodney Lauer. “Even before we moved here, we’d make the trip from Hilliard for this event.”

Council member Bill Beathard pointed out that the event turned out awesome, and he thinks the weather played a part.

“I was out deer hunting this morning, and it was raining and I got nervous,” Beathard said. “But the weather couldn’t be better. It’s just a great thing for the city. And even with the economy the way it is, people still came out to support it.”

Sisters Faith, 13, Hope, 9, and Joy Fetherols, 7, sold cookies to support their 4-H club.

“We are selling cookies to have money to do things like decorate our booth at the fair and buy T-shirts and stuff,” Faith Fetherols said.

Although Faith said it was a bit cold, Hope Fetherols said she was just glad that this year there was less snow.

“I hated last year because it was so cold and I kept slipping on the ice that was on the ground. But this year is better,” she said.

Melinda Peters, owner of Fine Design & Interiors, Ltd., downtown, also thought this year’s weather made the crowds nicer.

“It’s great to see so many people,” Peters said. “It’s a great chance for people get together, it’s a great social event. It’s always one of our biggest nights of the year. We start decorating a month ahead of time. It’s our big push into the Christmas shopping season.”

It’s also a season for choirs and choruses as the Rosedale Bible College chorus performed last night.

“We have come down for the past five or six years probably, we enjoy the tradition here,” said director Ken Miller. “I think that the Christmas Celebration is one thing that London does very well.”

On that note, Wendy Bower, director of St. Patrick’s School summed up the feeling for the evening and what it means for the town.

“We have been celebrating Old Fashion Christmas for ten years now,” Bower said. “We sing a whole bunch of different Christmas carols and the band students are going to play along with us.”

Gary Weaver can be contacted at (740) 852-1616, ext. 14 or by e-mail at news4@madison-press.com.