CRESTLINE–Crestline’s Winterfest celebration this year promises a sleigh-full of fun activities for young and old alike.
The Winterfest, after being scaled back last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will return to village streets on Saturday, Dec. 11, with some added treats in the holiday line-up.
Festivities will kick off at 10 a.m. downtown and wind down well after dark.
“It’s a full-fledged day of events, a first for the town,” said Clayton Herold of the Crestline Community Development Team (CDT). “We’ve always tried to evolve it and make it better every year. Now it’s an attraction for the village and surrounding areas.”
Train rides, lumberjacks at work, live reindeer, and musical performances are making their Winterfest debut, Herold said. Also new this year is a Small Business Expo from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Hub at Village Square, hosted by the Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce.
Romick Railway in Findlay, Ohio, will be set up along Seltzer Street, providing free train rides for children from noon to 2 p.m. The reindeer – brought in from nearby Kleerview Farms in Bellville – will be at the Central Park Gazebo from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Chainsaws will be buzzing at the corner of Seltzer and Scott Streets, where several lumberjacks will work their magic on wood from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. One of their creations will then be raffled off, Herold said, with proceeds benefitting the Crestline CDT.
Performing Arts students from Pioneer Career & Technology Center will sing Christmas carols throughout the day at the Gazebo, while Crestline Police officers will be outside The Hub accepting donations for their annual “Stuff a Cruiser with Toys” drive.
The traditional Santa Parade will step off at 4:30 p.m. from Crestline United Methodist Church, with St. Nick himself riding in a horse-drawn carriage, weather permitting, Herold said. The village’s tree lighting ceremony will follow at the Gazebo.
Herold said the Tiny Tim Shoppe will also be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day so children can buy inexpensive gifts for family and friends. The shop is located inside the Shunk House, 211 North Thoman Street.
Santa will also be there beginning at 5.
Winterfest festivities will conclude with two special events at the Crestline Public Library – a Christmas Elvis performance by Jim Bauer from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and the showing of the holiday classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas” movie at 6:30 p.m.
“It should be a good day, and hopefully, the weather holds,” Herold said. “I think there’s been a lot of good that’s happened in Crestline the last couple of years, and hopefully, we can use the Winterfest event to showcase all the positive stuff going on.”
