Thousands kick off the holiday season in Wooster at Window Wonderland
WOOSTER − The weather outside could have easily qualified as frightful, but activities downtown on Friday afternoon and evening were delightful.
By 7 p.m., more than 4,000 people had packed the square to watch Santa descend in a firetruck bucket from the top of the Briggs Financial Group building and to wait in joyful anticipation for the candy cane switch to be pulled by Steve Matthew and granddaughter Arianna Salazar, flanked by wife, Chris Matthew, and grandson Dean Spittle, lighting the Christmas tree.
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"It's like a postcard," said Chris Matthew following the ceremony of the downtown scene.
"It was very special. We love Wooster," said Steve Matthew, as he watched his wife, a Wooster High School swim coach, be swarmed by a group of swimmers following her stage appearance. One of them even tuned in from college on FaceTime, Steve Matthew said, noting they have been attending the annual event since their own children were young.
Thanking everyone for attending, Shannon Waller, the executive director of Main Street Wooster, said, "Our local businesses have been hard at work, decorating and preparing giveaways and specials so you have a wonderful experience."
Waller thanked businesses and organizations, including lead sponsor United Titanium, for making the event possible.
Downtown Wooster lights up as holiday season kicks off during Window Wonderland
Earlier in the evening, children and teens were equipped by Foursquare Church of Wooster with light sticks that made the night seem warmer.
"It was our intention," said Bethanne Guild, Next Gen pastor, "to light up Wooster."
Posed like portraits in the windows at Westfield Bank on Market Street were Wayne Center for the Arts ballerinas. Visitors stopped along the sidewalk to take their picture.
"We've been doing it for five or six years" in partnership with the center, said Corinne Wilson. "Every year is a different theme."
This year, it's "The Nutcracker."
Stepping out of one of the windows as the rotation changed, Kinsey Sipos, an 11-year-old Edgewood Middle School student who garnered the role of Clara, called the event "one of the best times of the year."
It's also a time to see people she knows — "lots of them" — through the window.
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Personnel from the Melissa Sanford Team-Keller Williams did their part in making the evening cozy by distributing free cookies and cocoa.
Business had started to pick up around 5:30 p.m., said real estate agent Zaurice Stephens, who acknowledged freezing, but was gamely pumping in Christmas music.
When it came time for Santa to arrive, Todd Patterson and his theater group, Summer Stage Wooster, took their turn with music, getting attendees in the spirit by singing Christmas carols.
Sharon Guilliams of State Farm accurately predicted the crowd grow with the arrival of Santa, and during the wait distributed coloring books and candy.
Taking a selfie with a giant Santa inflatable was an entertaining option at Ace Hardware.
Marissa Ledford and her family took advantage of the opportunity and were rewarded with a free ornament.
Son Duke, 1, chose a chainsaw decoration. Daughter Rylee, 3, was looking forward to seeing Santa, perhaps it would be a chance to make her Christmas request.
"She is asking for big things … maybe a puppy," her mom said.
Heading, following the tree-lighting ceremony, to see the live reindeer enclosed in a pen on East Liberty, Charlie Collier, a 5-year-old student at the Montessori School of Wooster, was "really excited" to see Santa and wanted to ask him for a unicorn.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: 2022 Window Wonderland in Wooster draws more than 4,000
