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‘Past features grow, move a little bit
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · November 30, 2017
The 96th annual Christmas Past brought a couple of substantial changes for the Dec. 1-2 weekend.
The biggie: Two locations to catch the horse-drawn carriage rides.
1. To ride one of four wagons, pulled by two horses, that carry 10 to 12 people, visitors should head over to the West Branch Fire Department. The wagons will run a route between there and the Brick Arch Winery, going through the downtown with its Christmas decorations and lights.
2. To ride one of the vis-à-vis carriages, the cozy, smaller rides like those featured in New York’s Central park, head instead to the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site’s Visitor Center. Those rides will run through the National Historic Site and by Hoover’s birthplace cottage.
West Branch Community Development Group Executive Director Kevin Rogers said the owners this year will add authentic sleigh bells and other decorations to add to the experience.
The first event all weekend is the Art Market, which starts at 4 p.m. Friday.
At 4:50 p.m., attention shifts to the Village Green for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony with West Branch United Methodist Church’s Praise Band — made up of high school students — providing the music.
The West Branch Community Choir will return to roam the downtown and National Historic Site singing Christmas carols.
The fire department will also take on the North Pole Outlet this year. Organized by Norm and Pat Bickford and Kathy Leong, the shop that allows children to select gifts for family members needed more room and will take over the meeting room in the rear of the building.
A thankful Rogers said some families — without even being asked — donated items to the North Pole Outlet by dropping them off in the vestibule outside the WBCDG office. Those wishing to do the same may also use the vestibule, or call the office at 319-643-7100. Further, the office is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Friday leading up to the event.
Wetherell Street and South Downey Street — which intersect between Heritage Square and the National Park Service — will close 3:30 p.m. Friday and reopen 10 p.m. Saturday to accommodate the event.
Another shift comes with the reading of The Night Before Christmas. Mayor Roger Laughlin will again read the story of Santa’s visit, but this time inside the Friends Meetinghouse on the east end of the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, diagonally across the Hoover Creek from the birthplace cottage. As an added feature, the National Park Service will project hand-sketched images reflecting parts of the story.
The jolly old elf, and the missus, will appear at three different times in two different situations.
From 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Friday and 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Santa and Mrs. Claus will appear at Nature’s Grace Photography, 102 West Main Street, for “bring your own camera” pictures. Professional photographs are available, too, with details outlined in the West Branch Community Development newsletter, which appeared in the Nov. 23 Times.
The West Branch High School FFA stepped up to help with a special activity that provides Christmas cards for residents of Crestview Nursing and Rehab. The agriculture students will help children make cards, color pictures and make ornaments at Town Hall from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.
The FFA’s involvement with this activity “works perfect” by tying into President Hoover’s humanitarian traits, Rogers said.
He noted that the FFA students will also pitch in by directing traffic around the downtown.
The Centerdale Women’s Club will move to Town Hall as well with its Nut & Fruit Sales, which run from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday. Proceeds go toward scholarships and projects in the school and community, he said.
Rogers said Heritage Square will be decorated with candlesticks and Christmas trees specifically to serve as a picturesque backdrop for, well, pictures.
WBCDG Vice President Nicki Brick wrote this about A Christmas Past:
“A Christmas Past … the wonderful celebration that takes us all back in time to days of old with fires in the streets and the clip-clopping of draft horses pulling wagons of carolers through the streets,” she said on a volunteer sign-up web form.
Rogers said planning started in July and he expects that all the volunteers will put in between 350 and 400 hours to pull it off. He counted off several groups coordinating in this effort: seven with WBCDG, several business owners, about 20 with FFA, the fire department auxiliary, firefighters, the public works department and several others within the City of West Branch.
“It takes a village to put on event this size,” he said. “It’s a monster.”
Rogers said the goal is to make “a very family friendly event.”
“Which I think we’ve achieved the last couple of years,” he said. “It’s a weekend for the young and old at heart. Step back in time and be a kid again.”
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