‘Wholesome, old-fashioned’ fun set for Marion Village Christmas Stroll
MARION — One thousand hot dogs proved to be not enough at last year’s Marion Village Christmas Stroll.
That was the amount purchased for the annual holiday festivity, according to event organizer Angela Rossi.
They ran out of hot dogs then, so this year, 1,200 hot dogs have been secured for the village Christmas stroll, now entering its 30th year.
The event’s intention is Marion businesses giving back to the Marion community, Rossi, manager of the Marion General Store, said.
From the Marion Music Hall to the Marion General Store to the churches on Front Street, festive attractions will stretch through the village on Sunday, Dec. 8 from 3 to 5:30 p.m.
The stroll put on by the Marion Business Community Association will feature carolers, musicians and old-school, throwback carnival games to play.
“Wholesome, old-fashioned family fun is how I look at it,” Rossi said.
Local businesses will fill the village streets giving out snacks and more.
That will include treats like cookies, cider, eggnog, cotton candy, popcorn and the aforementioned 1,200 hot dogs.
“It’s really about community and people coming together,” she said.
In Marion during the stroll, Santa Claus uses a different mode of transportation than the classic airborne sleigh drawn by reindeer.
In Marion, Santa Claus arrives by boat. He’ll make landfall at the town landing at 3 p.m.
He’ll then be brought around the village in a carriage drawn by Clydesdale horses, according to Rossi.
It’s a “big attraction,” Rossi said.
Village Christmas strollers can also visit warming stations set up at the event. Also planned for entertainment are face painters, caricaturists and Christmas characters like the Grinch and Frosty.
A tree lighting will be held at the town bandstand at 5:30 p.m.
Everything at the event has been donated by local businesses and the community, according to Rossi, who said the stroll entails “the simpler things about Christmas.”
“You’re kicking off the holiday season with all the festivities while seeing all your neighbors, your friends,” Rossi said.
