Fri Jul 30 2010
Santa’s elves. We recognize them immediately – those impish hardworking little folks in charge of making everything come together at the North Pole so all we good little girls and boys will find gifts on Christmas morning.
Surprise, I know one. She was dispatched to Frankfort about two years ago and lives in a charming little cottage, just as you would expect. And just like her brothers and sisters at the North Pole, she has her hands full right now.
Kelly Everman is Frankfort’s elf in charge. With a twinkle in her eye and a hearty laugh, she goes about her busy work as executive director of Downtown Frankfort, Inc. getting things ready for the Whitaker Bank Candlelight Tour.
It kicks off Thursday night and it is our first taste of visions of sugarplums dancing over our heads.
In Frankfort, the merry ole soul and benefactor of this adventure is Whitaker Bank, the major sponsor of the four-day event. The kick-off will officially begin in front of the bank at 6 p.m. Thursday and feature the Madrigal Singers from the First United Methodist Church and the Bondurant Middle School Chorus.
Pictures with Santa, ornament making and a holiday boutique will be inside beginning at 5 p.m., and free carriage rides begin in front of the bank as well at 6.
The workshops in our Frankfort village – the many stores and eateries – are preparing to put folks in the mood to begin their holiday shopping.
And downtown will be ablaze with twinkling lights and luminaries lighting the way – “if I have to light every one of them myself,” said Everman, laughing.
Readying the town
Everything about Everman is infectious – her laugh, her smile, her enthusiasm. As DFI’s director, she is charged with readying the area to showcase its merchants for the holiday season and particularly for all the events that will occur Thursday through next Sunday.
Four days of activities to enjoy Candlelight Tour weekend with enough activities to make your head spin and promising something for everyone to enjoy.
Everman jumped off Santa’s sleigh into Frankfort 19 months ago just in time to coordinate the first expanded celebration.
But having one under her belt, does not make this task easier because, to Everman, bigger is better.
“The more activities and opportunities we offer, the greater the chance we reach more of our residents,” Everman explained.
The whole goal with the Candlelight Tour weekend is to encourage people to shop and play locally.
“We are in an economical pinch along with the rest of the country,” Everman said. “Keeping our dollars local helps our independent businesses and keeps these merchants alive in our community.”
The tour began in the fall of 1981 when a few “urban pioneers” who’d taken a chance and opened retail businesses in restored buildings a few years earlier and some long-time downtown shop owners decided to invite folks in to kick off the Christmas season. They called themselves the Old Capital Shoppes and here are the businesses and their owners, as best anyone can recall:
Poor Richard’s Books owned by Lizz and Richard Taylor, Broadway; Ellen Glasgow’s Capital Gallery, Lewis Street; the Tin Ceiling, first owned by Fran and Bill Crumbaugh, Broadway; a quilt shop owned by Helen Thompson, Mary Nichols’ shop The Busy Bee, Broadway; a shop known as “The Hughes House” on Washington adjacent to the Episcopal Church, Selbert’s Jewelry owned by the Weitzel family, and the Kentucky Historical Society’s gift shop in the Old Capitol.
“The idea was to feature recently restored properties in the downtown area,” Lizz Taylor told Spectrum editor Phil Case last year. “And there was reluctance on the part of some of the merchants to get involved.”
There’s no reluctance now. Everyone wants a piece of the action and after 27 years, the event expanded to multiple nights in 2008.
“People love this event,” Everman said. “They are happy to be downtown to see folks they may never get to see, renew friendships and recollect memories of holidays past.”
For many it’s the town’s biggest Christmas party.
Lots in store
Now stay with me here. There is much in store from delicious suppers at churches to wandering singers, magical carriage rides to exciting stage shows, band performances at the Kentucky History Center, extended merchant hours and the lighting of the Old Capitol tree, Friday night. There will be something for everyone to enjoy.
Another surprise awaiting holiday revelers will be once-vacant storefronts filled with local businesses that want to be part of the downtown experience during this time.
Buffalo Trace and Capital City Bee Keepers will be inside the Bacon building, formally Cool Comfort Shoes on Broadway. The Franklin County Homemakers Guild will be inside what was formerly Prelude to a Kiss on St. Clair.
The Frankfort Museum will provide panel boards to fill other windows with interesting historical scenes.
Inside the old Marcus Furniture store on St. Clair will be the Festival of Trees contest, a joint venture between the Frankfort Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Frankfort, Inc.
This venue will feature locally decorated trees from tabletop height to 6-feet tall. They will be judged and awarded prizes. Also, a People’s Choice Award Tree will be determined by monetary vote.
But best of all, these trees can be purchased.
“They will be delivered, fully decorated and set-up in your home,” Everman said explaining a silent auction will provide the venue for bidding from Thursday until Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Part of the proceeds from the Festival of Trees will go to the United Way.
Next weekend
On Saturday, downtown will be abuzz with discovering Frankfort’s treasures – a kid’s day, no matter the age. It will feature a treasure hunt at Liberty Hall, military treasures at the Kentucky History Center; special activities at the YMCA.
Saturday night diners at Serafini can feast on a bourbon-influenced dinner and a Buffalo Trace bourbon tasting. Reservations are encouraged.
Perhaps the biggest event will be Sunday afternoon when its new owners Joe and John Dunn will unveil the renovations of the McClure Building. Inside, on permanent display through the holidays, will be the Frankfort Village.
Everman says Sunday afternoon will be a lovely afternoon to visit downtown – brunch at one of the local restaurants, take a tour of the McClure building, and then enjoy a concert featuring the Capital City Community band at First United Methodist Church at 5 p.m.
“Sunday in downtown Frankfort could take on a joyous life of its own,” Everman said.
Meanwhile, time is ticking away on the big clock in front of Selbert’s, and Everman has no time to stop and chat as she hurriedly gets ready for Santa’s arrival, making her own lists and checking them twice.
“The merchants do most of the work. I’m just here to make sure it all comes together for everyone to enjoy,” Everman said.
For information on entering a decorated tree, call 223-8261 or go to chamber@frankfortky.info.
A complete schedule of events, activities, times and locations appears in today’s, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s editions of the newspaper.
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