By Shabana Gupta
guptasha@grinnell.edu
Grinnell is kicking off the 2019 holiday season with their annual Jingle Bell Holiday event. The celebration, located downtown, will have performances, vendors and free carriage rides. Plus, Santa Claus will be around for photos.
Rachael Kinnick, president of the Grinnell Chamber of Commerce, advises college students and community members alike to head to Central Park for the beginning of the festivities on Friday, Nov. 22. “We will do our official lighting of the tree in Central Park at about 5:15 p.m., and then folks are encouraged to go to the participating businesses.” Each shop around the area has a different activity. Bill’s Jewelry Shop will be decorating Christmas tree ornaments, and the Stew will be holding an Empty Bowls MICA fundraiser.
The Empty Bowls Fundraiser is an event where people can buy a bowl and get soup or stew for $20. All of the proceeds go to MICA Food Bank. St. Mary Catholic Church will also be holding a fundraiser for MICA as a Food Pantry Sculpture Contest.
Dari Barn will be opening this weekend only for the event from 4 to 8 p.m. and on Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. They will be in a food truck located downtown as well for the celebration, with an extensive menu of Cheeseburger Chowder soup, hot chocolate, cyclones and more. However, the options will be limited compared to their normal menu.
Ginette McFarland, owner of the Dari Barn, said “the Jingle Bell Holiday event is a fantastic way for people to show local and enjoy our fabulous Central Park and downtown!” She wants everyone to know that there will be Dari Barn T-shirts and gift cards on sale during the celebration.
Pioneer Bookstore has been decorating for this event with lights and garland. Their staff members, such as Sonya Horn, have been working to get the store ready for the festivities. “It’s a big undertaking. We have to clear the space so that the kids have room to [create],” Horn said. “Last year we had 300 kids … that’s a lot for this little store.”
They based some of their decorations around the magazine that the Bookstore owner creates. “This year the theme is the Book of Gnome, so we have a lot of gnomes around the store,” Horn said. “Some of them have weighted hands, so they hang [off bookshelves and tables].”
Many other parts of their store have been decorated as well. “We decorated our stuffed llama, so everyone has to come see the stuffed llama,” Horn said. “We have the displays centered around Christmas … the children book display has a lot of Christmas books.”
The bookstore cleared an area in the store for children to work on arts and crafts such as three-dimensional Christmas trees, circles that they can turn into ornaments and stickers from all different faiths.
They have been expanding their books and gift sections in addition to adding more calendars and Christmas cards. “We have a lot of new Christmas items this year, you should come down and check it out,” Horn said.
If children make a wish list of all their favorite bookstore items during the event, parents are able to bring the wish lists back and get a discounted price on the items.
Additionally, the Grinnell Farmers Market will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at Hotel Grinnell for the Winter Market. There will be 15 vendors selling everything from baked goods to tie-dyed thermal blankets. Having the winter market during the Saturday after Jingle Bells is new, so everyone should see as much as they can over the weekend. All of the vendors can be found at Grinnell Chamber of Commerce home page under the Events tab.
If you’re interested in getting your photo taken, Jennifer Weinman Photography will have a selfie station with snacks where you can stop by and get out of the cold.
There will always be music playing somewhere. Starting off with Michelle’s Dance Academy performing on the stage, Grinnell Children’s Choir performance starts at 5:30 p.m. at the United Church of Christ and Brown’s Shoe Fit has a band performing from 5:45 p.m.—7 p.m.
Anyone interested in more arts and crafts can check out Vander Linden Construction for a design studio open house, or head over to Windsor Manor for ornament decorating during the Food Pantry Sculpture Contest. Grinnell State Bank will also have cookie decorating and coloring sheets open to everyone.
Everyone is encouraged to buy locally this holiday season. To promote traffic for retailers, the Chamber of Commerce has Holiday punch cards. Every purchase of $10 you make gets a punch for your card. Once you redeem your card you can get Grinnell Bucks, which serve as gift cards that can be used at nearly every business in Grinnell year-round.
Everyone is encouraged to buy locally this holiday season. To promote traffic for retailers, the Chamber of Commerce has Holiday punch cards. Every purchase of $10 you make gets a punch for your card. Once you redeem your card you can get Grinnell Bucks, which serve as gift cards that can be used at nearly every business in Grinnell year-round.
