On Saturday Dec. 3, the Geneseo Merchant's Association sponsored Christmas in the Village, bringing holiday-themed food and fun to Main Street for the community and students alike. Favorite vendors showed off their Christmas spirit by providing discounts on merchandise, free food and special entertainment.
Despite the lack of snow, holiday cheer was evident on Main Street. Attendees of Christmas in the Village were treated to s'mores outside the Not Dot Shop, cider and cookies from Touch of Grayce, fried dough at Pizza Paul's, roasted chestnuts from Geneseo Family Restaurant and wine ice cream from Mirras Bros. of the Finger Lakes. There were also horse-drawn winter sleigh rides, a live nativity scene that included real animals and pictures with Santa Claus. A central entertainment tent housed performances by Geneseo groups Red Kettle, Southside Boys, Geneseo Bhangra and Between the Lines.
According to Student Association Director of Public Relations senior Lindsey Hebell, although Christmas in the Village has been a Geneseo Merchant's Association tradition for the past 15 years, there hasn't been much student attendance in the past.
"This is the first year that GMA has come to SA to advertise Christmas in the Village," Hebell said. She worked with GMA to inform students about the event by hanging a banner in the union and creating flyers. "It is important to get community members and students out to support local businesses. We hope that this event will continue to happen in the future," she said.
Hebell credited alumna Michelle DiRenzo ‘11, a volunteer with GMA, for facilitating the collaboration between GMA and SA on advertising for the event.
"[The members of the Geneseo Merchants Association] are small business owners and don't have time to go around calling people and organizing things, so I volunteered to organize the event," DiRenzo said. DiRenzo contacted SA and put plans in action to advertise on campus and to raise student attendance for this worthy Christmas tradition.
"In my hometown, there's an event similar to Christmas in the Village and this was the first year that I missed it," freshman Christina Mortellaro said. "What I really enjoyed about this day was that everyone came together to celebrate small-town life and business. Even though I missed Christmas in the City in my hometown, I had something that was still reminiscent of that here."