Jam packed pre-holiday weekend
Danielle Switalski
Just thinking of Thanksgiving and the savory aroma of turkey and stuffing and rolls is enough to make anyone’s mouth water.
It’s a fact, the holidays are upon us, and local Plains’ businesses have joined forces to offer some pre-holiday festivities and deals called Starry Night and Tinsel Day the weekend of November 20 through November 22. Created to work simultaneously with this event and the famous Christmas Lighting Ceremony on November 22 is a new event this year called Winter Fest put on by the Plains/Paradise Chamber of Commerce.
Everyone needs to empty their calendars for this synchronic, event filled weekend.
First, the Starry Night and Tinsel Day is put on by Calamity, Annie and Belle, Mountain West Clothing, McGowan Grocery and Garden Gift and Floral. Each business will provide snacks to their customers, have holiday decorations up for people who don’t want to shop, but simply want to look at holiday decor and their own special holiday sales and deals.
Laura Rehbein, owner of Mountain West Clothing said they started having a special weekend every year around the holidays as a way to thank all of their costumers throughout the year. Mountain West Clothing, and Calamity, Annie and Belle have a combined store and are offering customers the chance to play “Deal or No Deal.” This game will consist of customers having the option to accept the marked down price or play “Deal or No Deal” by picking a briefcase that offers a deal higher or lower than the marked down price.
“I think its great to have because there are so many things that take people away to many different kinds of holiday bazaars so why not try to do it in one weekend and the lighting is just so nice,” said Judy Stamm, Owner of Calamity, Annie and Belle.
Mcgowan’s Grocery will have free hot dogs from 1p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday afternoon and have samples and drawings throughout the weekend. There will also be mystery items placed throughout the store that will have a sticker on them, which block the scanner and people can take the item home for free.
To hop on board with all of the holiday festivities, the Plains/Paradise Chamber of Commerce is putting on a new event this year called Winter Fest, which will take place Sunday from 1p.m to 5 p.m. Since most of the local businesses will be open on Sunday, the Chamber of Commerce is providing free hay rides up and down Railroad St. that will run nonstop for the entirety of Winter Fest. They will also be handing out Christmas Survival Kits to every family who hops on the hayride. The survival kits include various items donated by local businesses, including everything from coupons to small giveaways. In each kit will also be a raffle ticket to win $100 in Chamber Script money for first place and tickets to the Montana Choral Program for second place.
“It’s a nice way to get the holidays started and we chose this day to go with the fairground lighting and make it a whole fun afternoon,” said Kathy Logan, President of the Chamber of Commerce.
The hay ride will be a hop on, hop off deal and will stop at all of the local businesses on Railroad Street ultimately stopping at Fred Young Park where there will be a marshmallow roast put on by the Forest Service, which will be selling Christmas tree permits and the Fire Department, which will be offering Christmas Safety Tips.
“The outpouring of excitement from our local businesses and really wanting it to be a fun holiday feel and getting excited about getting everything decorated and ready to go has been so much fun,” said Logan.