Old St. Nick will be making his rounds this weekend with Trail, Rossland and Fruitvale on his radar.
His first stop will be in Fruitvale Friday night for the village’s Jingle Down Main event, where the community spirit is expected to be full to the brim.
“Everybody is in an upbeat, Christmassy spirit,” said village Coun. Bert Kniss, who’s overseeing the event that runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Main Street will be closed to traffic to make way for late-night shopping, horse-drawn wagon rides, face painting, food galore, weather-dependant toboggan runs, and performances by the Harmaniaks and Kootenay Jack.
Of course, the event wouldn’t be the same without Santa Claus, who will be onto the village’s pancake breakfast from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday morning at the Fruitvale Memorial Centre. Fruitvale firefighters will be cooking, and the Beaver Valley Nitehawks will be serving breakfast with all proceeds donated to the Fruitvale Community Chest to help with food hampers in the valley.
Jingle Express will also be running Saturday with scheduled departures sold out.
The community spirit continues at the Beaver Valley Arena that evening, where the public is invited to Skate with the Nitehawks from 2:45 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Hopefully, Santa Claus will have enough gusto for the festivities that follow in Rossland during Rekindle the Spirit of Christmas. The annual event also supports local business with holiday shopping taking centre stage and food playing a supporting role.
Golden City Lions Club will be serving up sausages, hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee in Henry LeFevre Square with a fire pit to warm the cold.
Bring the entire family and get into the yuletide spirit with a Santa parade and photos, tree lighting, carolers and the opening of four new art galleries simultaneously, notes organizer Tourism Rossland.
The festive event also features art and live music at the Rouge Art Gallery in the old Bank of Montreal building.
Kristi Calder, marketing manager for Tourism Rossland, said the art contribution this year stems from Christy Gritchen-Holden of Alley Cat Glass Works annual open house that has coincided with Rekindle for some years.
This year has turned into somewhat of an “art walk,” she said, assuring that returning favourites are still the foundation of the festival.
“Rekindle is an annual event to kick off the Christmas shopping season in downtown Rossland, so all the shops get their windows decorated in time for the event and the downtown Christmas tree, right outside of Ferraros, is lit up,” she said.
This festive spirit will be shared in Trail Saturday at Silver City Nite, with Santa’s Candy Parade at 4 p.m. as the main attractant.
“We recently received word from the North Pole that Mrs. Claus will be joining Mr. Claus in the parade this year,” said Andrea Jolly, Trail’s communications and events coordinator.“She is new to the event and is looking forward to a warm welcome here in Trail.”
The parade caps off a day of fun activities in Trail that start with the Trail & District Chamber of Commerce’s first Trail Indoor Winter Market of the season from noon-4 p.m.
The Trail Ambassadors will be on site downstairs from noon-3 p.m. for crafts and face painting. Outside, on the corner of Bay and Spokane, Trail firefighters will be hosting a marshmallow roast and Local 480 will be serving up a hot food fundraiser.
For a full schedule of events visit, Trail’s event calendar at www.trail.ca. For more on Rekindle, check out the 21st Annual Rekindle the Spirit of Christmas Facebook event. For those in the Beaver Valley, Jingle Down Main’s schedule can be located under the calendar on the village’s website (village.fruitvale.bc.ca).