Friday, December 13th, 2019
St. Marys Christmas event debuts
By Sydney Albert
ST. MARYS - Families looking to get into the holiday spirit on Saturday can swing by downtown St. Marys and enjoy the first Miracle on Spring Street event.
From 11 a.m.-2 p.m. that day, several businesses on Spring Street will host Christmas crafts and activities, horse-drawn wagon rides will be available and the Memorial High School brass ensemble and symphonic choir will perform.
Families can write a letter to Santa at Effie's Boutique, decorate ornaments at Gifts From The Heart, make pinecone bird feeders at Plus One Professionals, get their faces painted or temporarily tattooed at Fringe 217 Salon and Spa, participate in a scavenger hunt or make reindeer food at Leugers Insurance, listen to a story and wrap a present for charity at the library, peruse local artwork and color in their own art pieces at the Arts Place or grab some hot chocolate and take pictures with various Christmas characters at Hudson Jewelers.
The event was organized by Lucy Spencer, a Memorial High School junior, and the St. Marys Area Resource Team, a coalition of local businesses with additional help from the St. Marys FFA and adviser Lucy Bambauer.
Spencer said she had long been involved as a dancer in the parade of Wapakoneta's Hometown Holiday event and wanted to create something similar in St. Marys. Creating an event in downtown St. Marys would also mean families didn't have to travel as far to enjoy some holiday fun, she said.
The idea became her passion project for FFA, and now all FFA members are involved in Miracle on Spring Street, she said. All of the events are free, paid for by the FFA and SMART.
Spencer said she had been talking with SMART members about making the event an annual occurrence, and in the future, Miracle on Spring Street could become the city's Christmas event of the season. While local businesses usually host a few scattered Christmas events, Spencer said the main goal moving forward was to incorporate everything into one day or possibly one weekend, to become a big community event.
"If we all just worked together, it would be a bigger and better thing. So that's what we're hoping for next year," she said.
