Schomberg kicks off holiday season with annual Main Street Christmas

Nearly 4,000 people attended this year's Christmas celebration

Yorkregion.com
December 11, 2018
Sheila Wang

Around this time of the year, the village of Schomberg makes sure to put you in the Christmas mood.

With a dazzling array of festivities, Schomberg’s Main Street Christmas once again brought thousands of people – young and old – to its historic street for a holly jolly evening on Dec. 1.

Nearly 4,000 people attended the annual celebration, which started in the early afternoon and lasted well into the evening on Main Street.

Surrounded by jugglers, singers and great food, the residents and visitors took the opportunity to support local businesses and farmers while enjoying two Christmas parades: the annual Santa Claus Parade in the afternoon and the well-known Farmers Parade of Lights in the evening.

Initially started by local businesses, A Main Street Christmas has been held as a community tradition in Schomberg for 23 year.

“It has evolved into a little more of a community event," said Jane Binions, the event organizer. "We try to keep it within the community in terms of we don’t have food trucks per se. We’d rather have community groups that use the event to sell food to raise funds for their particular group.”

As a longtime resident in Schomberg, Binions said she has been involved with the Christmas event for about 11 years and started working as the organizer since last year.

“It’s not about me,” Binions said. “Everyone else were volunteers.”

Approximately 50 volunteers helped organized and executed the event this year, she added, while numerous volunteers helped with their community groups.

Binions said there weren't as many visitors at this year’s celebration as the year before when roughly 6,000 people attended the community event.

“We blamed it mostly on the weather,” she said, noting freezing rain was in the forecast prior to the event.

It started to rain around 7 p.m. Standing in the cold, wet weather, visitors wouldn't let it dampen their Christmas spirits.

Thousands of spectators lined Main Street in the misty rain, waving and cheering as the vibrantly-lit heavy machinery proceeded down the historic street.

“Local business community is very involved in terms of sponsorship and in-kind donations,” Binions said.

The business on Schomberg's Main Street has been declining over the years, and the annual Christmas event always encourages people to shop and eat locally.

The Olde Mill Art Gallery, a pop-up art gallery on Main Street, received more than 600 customers on the day of A Main Street Christmas.

The gallery opens Thursdays through Sundays, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and is slated to stay open until Dec. 22.

Schomber's Main Street Christmas celebration is not about making money, but rather promoting Schomberg's awareness as a town, said Debra Glass, who moved to Schomberg the same year A Main Street Christmas was first started in Schomberg.

As a small business owner on Main Street then, Glass still has fond memories of her experience at Schomberg's first Main Street Christmas celebration 22 years ago.

"We had really, really strong energy at that time. There were a lot more businesses wanting to develop Main Street into a real shopping experience," Glass said.

She said many businesses gave away free stuff during the event, where community groups raised funds for great causes such as churches and environmental groups.

The Schomberg Village Association has been running Schomberg's Main Street Christmas since 2005.