For many Granville shop owners and residents, the holiday season is their Super Bowl – except that this Super Bowl is defined by red bows, pine trees decorated by school children, Christmas music, Santa, horse-drawn carriage rides, food and drink.
“It’s like being in a Hallmark movie,” said Linnea Gold, Granville Inn concierge, who has lived in Granville for 35 years. She said she, her husband, and their two children have long loved the town, especially during the winter.
“I’m blessed to live here,” Gold said.
This year is an extra special one for the Granville Inn, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
The Granville Inn was filled with Christmas cheer and decorations starting the day after Thanksgiving. It will host a holiday market on Saturday, Dec. 7, when the Granville Area Chamber of Commerce hosts the 39th annual Christmas Candlelight Walking Tour.
All shops downtown will open by 10 a.m. that day, and the holiday walk will take place from 1-9 p.m. A complete schedule of events and details about parking can be found on the event website.
And this year, the party will be extended for two more weekends, as Bryn Du Mansion will host “Christmas at the Mansion,” a special holiday event from 5-9 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, and Made Local Events will host a “Last Chance Market” at the Granville Inn on Sunday, Dec. 22.
Saturday Dec. 7
Held on the first Saturday of December, the Candlelight Walking Tour encourages visitors to stroll through streets lined with Christmas trees and luminaries to light the way.
Among the highlights, especially for children, is a Jingle Bell Bazaar shopping area just for them at the Granville Elementary School. This special shop allows young children to shop for presents for their parents and other loved ones.
“It is a right of passage that you go to the elementary school and buy Christmas presents for your mom and dad as a child,” Gold said.
Inside the churches on the four corners of Broadway and Main Street, holiday cheer will be provided in the form of music and warmth.
“There was this one time where it was just snowing beautifully,” Gold said. “And everyone was out singing outside and the ‘four corner churches’ were all open. And they had music, and you could run in to get warm and listen to the choir. Everything is open. Free cookies, hot chocolate.”
Shops and restaurants will be open, and street vendors will offer a variety of food, snacks and beverages.
Free to the public, the Candlelight Walking Tour is full of festive activities. Santa comes downtown on a fire truck and takes his seat at the Granville Public Library to greet children and hear their Christmas wishes.
Next door, the Robbins Hunter Museum at the Avery-Downer House will be filled with trees decorated in the fashion of years past, and visitors can vote on entries in the annual Gingerbread House Decorating Contest.
A horse-drawn carriage will offer people rides around the downtown area, and a barbershop quartet traditionally sings. A Christmas market sponsored by the Granville Chamber of Commerce will be held in Opera House Park, and a market also will be held in the courtyard at the Granville Inn.
“This place is magical,” Gold said.
This time of year, some of the cars in the parking lot, and many driving past the inn on Pearl Street or Broadway are topped with fresh-cut Christmas trees from one of the nearby tree farms.
Since 1952, Timbuk Farms & Garden Center, just north of Granville on Rt. 661, has been a staple in central Ohio’s Christmas tree tradition for many families. Other tree farms nearby are Homestead, M&M and Davies, all on Loudon Street northwest of the village.
Gold said that she once watched in a short span of time as more than 60 cars drove through downtown with trees tied to the tops of their cars.
Brian Harp, catering & events manager at Granville Inn, said people come to Granville from across central Ohio. “They love the feeling of driving to a farm with their family for a traditional Christmas,” he said. And many make a day of it by stopping in town for a meal, hot chocolate, and to do some shopping.
The tree farms opened on Nov. 29. At Timbuk, the farm covers 300 acres, and it will be open through the end of the day on Saturday, Dec. 21. Timbuk grows seven species of trees: white spruce, blue spruce, Canaan fir, concolor fir, Douglas fir, scotch pine and white pine.
Along with picking out the perfect tree, farm-goers can ride in a magical bus, shop for gifts and sip hot chocolate at its lodge.
Saturday Dec. 14
This is the first year that the Bryn Du Mansion will host “Christmas at the Mansion: Cake and Cookie Bake Show,” which it describes as a “magical evening” with a cake- and cookie-decorating contest, as well as the cookie decorating, horse-drawn-carriage rides, and art and crafts, as well as visits from Santa, Mrs. Claus and their elves.
The event will be from 5-9 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, at the mansion at 537 Jones Road NE.
The event will showcase holiday-themed cakes, cupcakes and cookies “for a chance to win in categories like Best Decorated Holiday Cake, Best Decorated Holiday Cookies, and Best Decorated Holiday Cupcakes,” according to the mansion’s website. “Both professionals and home bakers are welcome to participate. Entries will be judged by both a professional panel and community voting.”
The contest entry fee is $20, and those entering the contest can register here by Dec. 7.
The cost to attend the event is $25 for those 16 and older, $10 for those ages 3-15, and free for children age 2 or younger. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.
Tara Gordon, director of marketing, programming and engagement for the mansion, helped create the event. She walked the grounds recently to explain what visitors will find that night in each building:
Upon arriving at the mansion, visitors will be guided into the main room of the mansion, where Santa will be seated. Continuing on, visitors will find beverages and snacks in an adjacent room that leads outdoors to nearby buildings on the mansion grounds. Each building has a specialty, Gordon said.
The Cramer House will serve hot cocoa, and will be known for the night as the “Cocoa House.”
The Carriage House will host cookie decorating led by Mrs. Claus. The Art Center will offer arts and crafts.
The Field House will host games and activities for children, and food trucks will be stationed outside the field house to offer visitors an evening meal.
Sunday Dec. 22
On the last Sunday before Christmas, local artisans will be at the Granville Inn for the “Last Chance Market,” to sell their crafts and artwork at a holiday market hosted by Made Local Events. The event is free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Gold said it’s popular with women, who “love to come [and] get lunch with the girls.”
This story was updated at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4 to include additional information about Made Local Events’ Last Chance Market at the Granville Inn.
Lola Carter writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.