Hundreds Visit Chautauqua Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration
SYRACUSE — “Several hundred” Christmastime revelers braved the elements to enjoy a variety of Yuletide festivities offered by Chautauqua Wawasee Saturday, Nov. 30, at Oakwood Park.
For the most part, the rain held off. The cold and blustery winds did not. The temperature hovered just above freezing and a blustery 16-mph wind off Lake Wawasee plunged the wind chill into the 20s.
Still, according to Kip Schumm, who served on the planning committee, “For our first time, I am very happy with the turnout.” Chautauqua hopes to make its “Old Fashioned Christmas” an annual event.
The two-hour event ran from 6 to 8 p.m. at various Oakwood venues connected by pathways marked with luminaries and strings of Christmas lights.
Mary Moretto announced the lighting of the tree in front of the Oakwood Resort at 6:25 p.m. A crowd of more than 100 helped with the countdown and after the switch was thrown to activate the tree’s 7,000 colored lights, the assembly sang “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” before dispersing to visit other attractions.
Revelers snapped up most of the 1,000 cookies home baked for the occasion and quickly exhausted the supply of 180 cups of hot chocolate available for free.
Some visitors availed themselves of a horse-drawn carriage ride while others strolled over to the gazebo to hear The Backyard Brass Band from Syracuse blare out Christmas tunes.
Music was also provided by The Chain Gang, a barbershop quartet from Columbia City, and the Calvary Blend singing quartet based out of Calvary United Methodist Church in Syracuse.
The spiritual meaning of Christmas was portrayed with a live nativity and by Elaine Pearson reading Luke’s gospel account of the Savior’s arrival in Oakwood’s octagon chapel.
Also present at the festival were Santa and Mrs. Claus, some elves, Frosty the Snowman, a reindeer and the Grinch.
Following are some photos of the event (photos by Ray Balogh):
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- Janet Hartley from the Wawasee Property Owners Association helps hand out free cookies. More than 1,000 cookies were home baked for the event.
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- Elaine Pearson reads Luke’s gospel account of the nativity to a capacity crowd in Oakwood’s chapel.
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- A live nativity scene was presented on the north side of Oakwood’s Event Center. Shown are Alan Kitson, wise man, left; Marc Mesaros as Joseph; Suzy Cook, seated, as Mary; Andrea Mickely, the angel; Jeff Shields and Bennett Mickely, wise men; and Paul and Savannah Ulrich, shepherds.
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- Gavin French, 7 months, tells Santa he wants diapers for Christmas. Gavin is the son of Andrew and Alaina French of Indianapolis.
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- Calvary Blend, a singing quartet based out of Calvary United Methodist Church in Syracuse, provided music at the front entrance of the Oakwood Event Center. Pictured are Rodney Urick, left, Tami Urick, Lori Barsoda and Dave Van Lue.
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- The Chain Gang Barbershop Quartet from Columbia City belted out Christmas carols under a canopy beside the walkway from the Oakwood Resort to the Event Center. Shown are Jerry Frush, tenor, left; Phil Randall, lead; Jim Geller, bass; and Mike Lewis, baritone.
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- Butch Plikard and Judy Roberts as Santa and Mrs. Claus pose with one of their faithful elves, portrayed by Sylvia Gargett. About 100 children visited Santa during the two-hour Old Fashioned Christmas event.
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- Fran Van Lue as “the elf in charge” reads “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to a group of children.
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- Frosty the Snowman, played by Pam Schumm, gives a festive wave next to the Christmas tree outside the Oakwood Event Center.
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- Matt Murdock, a Nashville, Tenn., trumpeter who plays on cruises of The Dixie in North Webster, toots out a Yuletide tune, joined by little musicians Hannah Fulk, 9, daughter of Chris and Brittany Fulk of Milford, left; Phoenix Sailor, 4, daughter of Jacqueline Mock, New Paris; and Nilah Moreno, 7, and her brother Oskar, 5, children of Ignacio and Katie Moreno, Detroit, Mich.
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- The centerpiece of the Old Fashioned Christmas was the tree in front of Oakwood Resort, bedecked with 7,000 Christmas lights.
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- The sizable crowd disperses to visit other attractions after the lighting of the Christmas tree.
