By Carmen Ensinger
Stevie Van De Velde, a member of the Winchester Civic Group, addressed the Winchester City Council at their November 6 meeting to update them on the recent Harvest Fest event and ask for assistance for the upcoming Hometown Christmas event on Dec. 7.
“We just want to thank the council for what they did for the Harvest Fest which made it a success,” Van De Velde said. “We felt like it was very well attended and we have had a lot of favorable responses from it.”
Van De Velde said she appreciated the city bringing up the picnic tables from the park to the square so people would have a place to eat and for the city waiving the vendor fee for the food trucks.
“A lot of our vendors sold out of all of their food that day,” Van De Velde said. “The pumpkin painting event was so popular we ended up having to go out and get more pumpkins. It was a nice problem to have. The face painting went over well too as well as the music. It was just a lovely day and a nice community event for the people to enjoy.”
The next event they are getting ready for is the annual Hometown Christmas scheduled for Dec. 7. It is a full day of events beginning with the Kiwanis Pancake and Sausage Breakfast at Sibert Hall beginning at 7 a.m., followed by the First Baptist Church who will be having a soup dinner later on in the day.
Vendors will be set up around in the square and possibly in city hall. The FFA will have their greenery for sale inside the square. Josh Cannon will have his train display at the old depot. There will be caroling and treats at the Old School Museum and the day will wrap up with the Key Club’s Christmas Parade which will begin at 6:30 p.m. and be followed by the Memory Tree dedication.
Santa will be making his appearance at Hometown Christmas from 1 to 3 p.m. at his house on the Square. It is the only time he will be in Winchester.
“We are asking that the city help us with the parade by blocking off the Square,” Van De Velde said. “We would also like for you to try to remove all the cars from the center of the square as well.”
Van De Velde said there is a very valid reason for this request.
“A couple years ago, we didn’t get all the cars moved out and it was very nerve wracking because the kids were darting between the cars,” she said. “People were nervous about the kids’ safety so we want to get as many cars out of there as we can.”
The Civic Group will be decorating the Square for Hometown Christmas on Nov. 23 and asked if the city workers could have the leaves raked up by that time since it makes it much easier to decorate with them gone. They will begin decorating at 8 a.m. and welcome any and all help with the decorating.