Orrville hosting 25th Home for the Holidays on Nov. 29
Orrville’s Home for the Holidays celebration will include iceless ice skating at Serpentini Orrville on West Main Street.
No sooner will you digest your Thanksgiving turkey and maybe a leftover sandwich or two than it will be time for one of Orrville’s most popular events. The town will host its annual Home for the Holidays Christmas kickoff on Nov. 29.
Started in 1998 through the Orrville Chamber of Commerce, this will be the 25th renewal of the nearly annual celebration, now put on by the Orrville Community Development Corp. Like so many other festivals and celebrations, this one skipped one year because of COVID.
Maria Hostetler was a high-schooler when the event started. Over the last couple years, she’s been as involved as just about anyone as part of the Home for the Holidays Committee.
“When I was in college, they used to do pictures with Santa, and I was involved with a club,” she said. “It was crazy the people who would get in line for pictures with Santa. We’d mail them to people. Now everybody has a smartphone and can take their own pictures. It’s just gone from there. We’re always looking to make it better than the previous year.”
More recently, ice sculptures were added. The past couple years they numbered more than 50. Hostetler said by late last week there were 57 sculptures accounted for with the possibility of adding another couple.
“It’s the most we’ve ever had,” she said. “It’s definitely good for walking traffic. There are some people who drive around. (Walkers) go in and out of the downtown businesses, seeing Santa arrive by fire truck, the ice carving demo, the live nativity.”
This year will be the third in a row to include a scavenger hunt. People get punch cards and look for answers to movie-trivia questions at various participating merchants. Prizes and basket giveaways will go to the winners.
Something new this year is an ornament commemorating the 25th anniversary of Home for the Holidays, which is embossed on the ornament along with the event logo. The trinkets are on sale for $10 at Cornerstone Park, the library and Gary’s Drive-Thru while supplies last. Approximately 200-250 of them were made.
Hostetler said once she saw one of the ornaments, she was sold on them.
“When I saw it and held it, it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be,” she said. “Oh yeah, this is totally worth $10.”
Hostetler said all funds raised through ornament sales will go back to the event for future use.
“So if we want to add for the event, we’ll at least have a little something,” she said.
Hostetler said events such as this one are a huge part of what makes small-town America so enjoyable. Go to any community and there’s a chance you’ll find some kind of Christmas event taking place right around this time.
“We all have something different,” she said.
Typical of the event, there will be much packed in to a four-hour official timeline. The hope, though, is some of the celebration lingers for a couple extra days, drawing people to area businesses.
Things will kick off at 5 p.m. with Santa and Mrs. Claus arriving at the Smith Orr Homestead by fire truck, escorted courtesy of Ventrac. The rest of the evening’s festivities will include the following:
—Santa will light the Homestead at 5:30 p.m.
—The live nativity will begin at Christ United Church of Christ at 5:30 p.m.
—Santa and Mrs. Claus will be able to be found along the event route from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
—Ice carving demo at the American Legion at 6 p.m.
—The Clauses will visit the Orrville Public Library at 7 p.m.
—The Clauses will stop at the live nativity at 7:30 p.m.
—Live Fire & Ice demo at Gary’s Drive-Thru at 7:30 p.m.
—The Clauses will visit with reindeer and skaters at Serpentini at 8 p.m. with iceless skating open until 9 p.m.
The library will host various businesses and organizations, which will offer treats, crafts and activities throughout the evening for those who stop by.
The Orrville Railroad Heritage Society invites people to stop by the Orrville Union Depot to see its completely redone interior, which includes new displays and artifacts not previously seen or rarely seen by the public, and it will have Orr Theatre popcorn. The gift shop will be open.
The biggest thing now is to hope for good weather. The ice sculptures depend on that.
“The biggest thing is weather since we added the ice sculptures,” Hostetler said. “That’s a big cross your fingers for the weather. The first year it was perfect. The ice sculptures were still up for a few days so people could come and see them.
“The goal is to get people back out for Small Business Saturday. If you can get a couple days out of (the sculptures), depending on where they’re at — their life’s not too long — that’s a good thing.”