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| Community spirit shines through seasonal festivals |
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| Written by Lynn Greene/Senior editor |
| Thursday, 01 December 2011 15:24 |
 Holiday parades and festivals bring communities together one last time before the long winter settles in. File photo. (A complete list of area parades and events is HERE.) WILLIAMS BAY — Joey Coleson has a mission: “My whole life I wanted to go Christmas caroling.” For the past three months, Coleson has been thinking how to get other people to do it with her. So, she helped organize Williams Bay’s holiday celebration. The village of Williams Bay will host Hometown Holidays in an effort to promote a small-town Christmas season. The festivities began Friday with the inaugural lighting of the Festival of Trees, a collection of 15 decorated trees at the corner of Walworth Avenue and Geneva Street. At 6:30 p.m. each Friday through Dec. 23, the trees will be lit and a different group of people will be recognized, from the village’s service providers to community organizations. And then anyone who wishes to participate will gather at the trees to go caroling through the downtown business district. “Each week, we’ll have a different group lead the carolers,” Coleson said. Even though the lyrics will be printed and made available for carolers, Coleson pointed out, “If you have an iPhone, there’s an app for that.” Local businesses will light up the street with twinkle lights and provide refreshments for the participants. The celebration wouldn’t be complete without Santa, who will be there with his sleigh. He will collect donations for the food pantry and the animal shelter. Children can meet with him from noon to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 18. The emphasis is on a holiday atmosphere that offers participants more than a shopping experience. “I don’t want Christmas to be hijacked and make it just about business,” Coleson said. For that reason, she said she’s been very pleased with the positive response from the village and the local businesses, with everyone pitching in to create a fun event. The holidays are a community event in East Troy, too, where tree-lighting festivities kick off at 6 p.m. Dec. 3 with the East Troy Community Band leading a Christmas sing-a-long in the village square. The Bob Burutha Memorial Christmas Tree, planted in honor of Burutha, an active community member in the ’80s, had always been decorated by East Troy schoolchildren with homemade ornaments. Burutha had thought the community should have a real tree. “But the (memorial) tree has gotten so big, that only the lowest branches were getting the ornaments because that’s as far as the kids could reach,” said Katie Matteson, executive director of the East Troy Area Chamber of Commerce. “So now, we get four trees and put them up near the memorial tree for the kids to decorate.” Burutha’s son, Mike, the East Troy fire chief, works with Wisconsin Oven to place lights on the memorial tree, continuing that tradition. “ ... (T)hose who gather on the village square this year will not be disappointed,” Matteson said. “Santa and his entourage will arrive as usual by fire truck at 6:30 p.m. to light the tree, which will have been decorated with handmade ornaments by the local schoolchildren the day before.” Afterwards, photos with Santa are available, with proceeds going to benefit the East Troy Food Pantry. “It’s a great way the whole community can help the pantry and celebrate the season at the same time,” Matteson said. Another way communities celebrate the season is with holiday parades. Mukwonago, Burlington, Palmyra, Twin Lakes, Elkhorn and Lake Geneva all host parades the first weekend in December. Burlington starts the season off with an evening parade Friday. The Lake Geneva parade has long been a tradition. The 36th annual Great Electric Children’s Christmas Parade begins at 5 p.m. Dec. 3. Gertie Cuccia, of the Geneva Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, said organizers expect a good turnout as usual. “Some really make a day of it,” Cuccia said. “People come early, get a good parking spot and then hang around the downtown until the parade starts.” Downtown shops stay open late, some have special events and others serve up refreshments. Because the parade is at night, all of the floats are lit with Christmas lights. “We have a lot of the school bands and some of the churches really put together nice entries,” Cuccia said. Frank Guske would agree. He participates in the parade every year with his Boy Scout and Cub Scout Troop 239. “They really get stoked for this parade,” Guske said. “They’ll be in their full uniforms, handing out candy as they go.” Putting the parade lineup together is always a fun part of the job, said Chris Clapper, executive director of the Elkhorn Area Chamber of Commerce. Clapper and Tracie Silva, her assistant, said the parade is a great fundraiser for the local food pantry. The entry fee is $10 or 10 items for the food pantry. “It’s a good way to get additional support for the food pantry,” Silva said. The economy and the expense of putting together a float for the parade has some past entrants a little concerned this year, but Clapper said she believes the turnout still will be good. “I told them it doesn’t have to be a big, expensive float, sometimes the simple things are the most fun,” Clapper said. “Some will probably come as presents — just get a box and gift wrap it and wear that.”
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