Winterfest kicks off holidays

       Families from all over braved

the cold and greeted the beginning of the holiday season at this

year’s Winterfest, which was held on Sunday, Nov. 21 at the Fred

Young Park.

For organizer Kathy Logan, the purpose

of the event is twofold.

“It’s just a nice way to kick off the

holiday season,” Logan said, “and maybe for local businesses to

take advantage of the increased traffic with people coming in from

out of town for the fairground lighting.”

The event consisted of a truck and

trailer providing hayrides, which was organized by Rehbein Ford.

Initially, it was planned to have a horse and wagon, but the horse

had to cancel because of a cold.

The truck and trailer followed a route

that weaved through Plains, which also allowed for the chance for

attendees to stop at local businesses and do some holiday

shopping.

“People can hop off and shop at some of

the stores that will be open specially just for the Winterfest,”

Logan said. “Quite a few of them are participating and have

specials going on that day.”

To fight the cold, the trailer made a

short pit stop during its route around town.

“One of the fun things that the wagons

did is go through the drive-in at the Circle,” Logan said, “where

people could get either hot chocolate or hot cider while they’re in

the wagon.”

Another part of the event that

encouraged people to shop local was the availability of free

“Christmas survival kits,” which Logan and other volunteers put

together.

“They’re bags of coupons, goodies from

local merchants, so it encourages people to shop local,” Logan

said. “The first 100 people who go on the hayrides will get a

Christmas survival kit.”

Rehbein Ford provided a cozy campfire

and marshmallows to roast while attendees waited to get on the

hayride, which was a truck with a trailer and hay bales.

This year marked the event’s second

year, so it is just getting started, according to Logan. The idea

to start the event came from the Chirstmas lighting that is held at

the fairgrounds every year.

“We had the fairground lighting, which

was really a big deal and a lot of fun, and we thought a nice way

to get our holiday season started,” Logan said, “both for our

merchants and for a lot of us who are really busy and it would be

nice to get our shopping done early.”

A large part of the event has not only

been aimed at getting people in the holiday spirit, but also in

getting them to think about businesses in the area when they start

their holiday shopping.

“It’s really to encourage people to

shop locally,” Logan said.

Also included in the Christmas survival

kit is a list of Christmas gift ideas from local merchants. In the

past, Logan has found this list helpful in searching for gift

ideas.

“It is amazing when you look through

that list just how much is available here locally that you don’t

need to go out of town for,” Logan said. “It also gives me good

ideas every year. I think, ‘Oh, what am I going to get my

father-in-law,’ and it never fails that I look through that list

and come up with something wonderful.”