With the Mad River Valley Country Christmas Open House and Holiday Paint-In being named a Top Ten Winter Event for the second year in a row, a group of merchants are collaborating to make this year's event an even greater success, and they plan to continue that momentum throughout the month of December. "During a meeting to plan activities for Country Christmas someone came up with a bright idea, pun intended, for the Festival of Lights," explains Mad River Valley marketing coordinator and Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce interim manager Lisa Davis.
Last year, giant wooden stars wrapped in lights were displayed in front of Bridget's Widgets and Fuller House. This year the community is being asked to create a star theme from Moretown to the ski resorts. Businesses and residents are encouraged to display stars on their properties beginning the day after Thanksgiving.
"The goal is to make the star display an annual attraction that will lure families from neighboring communities to 'take a drive' to The Valley to see the stars," says Davis. "This project will take a few years to fully develop but if enough community members participate, we can create an opportunity for restaurants and retailers to capture business from this 'starlight driving tour'."
Volunteers are needed to collect straight saplings of various sizes, 3 to 15 feet long and 2 to 3 inches in diameter. They should be dropped off next to Bridget's Widgets located in the back of the Bridge Street Marketplace parking lot. Once materials are collected there will be a community construction day with hands-on instruction for building the stars. The goal is to build at least 50 stars this year and display them at various businesses and residences up and down The Valley all the way to the mountain.
Residents of businesses interested in participating in this Valleywide initiative are asked to contact Barbra Gulisano at (802) 343-4615/
{loadnavigation}
