Bengal News West Reporters
You better watch out, and you better not cry, because Santa
Claus is coming to Elmwood Village. This
Santa, though, comes with four rules and a green screen.
Kenneth Irwin, better known as Santa
Ken, is convinced he’s Santa Claus; he even answers the phone in character. Santa Ken will be on Elmwood Avenue from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Dec. 12 and Dec. 13 to take pictures and spread holiday cheer
for the first Christmas in the Village.
“Twenty years ago people told me I was
good at it,” Irwin said. “So now I’m part of a multi-billion dollar business.”
Santa
Ken’s four rules are simple. One: Each child who visits with him gets one toy. Two: Children should use
words like “please” and “thank you”. Three: They need to go to bed on time and brush their
teeth. Four: Clean their rooms plus the living room, the dining room and under the
couch, because Santa knows that children hide things under there.
Santa Ken brings with him green screen technology, which is a green wall that kids can stand in front of
and get their pictures taken. After that, a background of Santa is inserted into the scene, which allows for timid children to
still get a good picture with Santa.
“We call this the no trauma drama
zone,” Irwin said. “Some kids get scared of getting their pictures taken with
Santa, so this eases kids into it.”
In the past, the Elmwood Village had
Open Light Fridays, where each Friday in December there would be a different
event, such as tree lighting and caroling. The main motivation behind Christmas
in the Village is to celebrate the holidays on one main weekend, while bringing
people to the shops and to support local businesses.
“This
is the first year that we’re doing this,” Ashley Smith, community engagement
manager for the Elmwood Village Association, said. “We wanted something to add
a different amount of interest and atmosphere to the holidays in the Elmwood
Village to give people a reason to come here.”
Each month
Elmwood Village shop owners and the Elmwood Village Association meet to
Ashley Ohl, of Renew Bath & Body
discuss
how business and sales are going for the stores. The holidays are an important
time for everyone, and this year they are switching from Open Light Fridays to
something different. |
| Ashley Ohl of Renw Bath & Body |
“If we
could bill it as the catch-all weekend maybe we’ll get more people coming in,
and it could be a bigger deal,” Smith said. “So that was the idea for Christmas
in the Village.”
Along with
Santa walking through the stores, the businesses on Elmwood will be serving hot
chocolate, hanging lights and decorating their windows.
“We
participate every year,” said Sue Marfino, owner of ShoeFly, 801 Elmwood Ave.
“This is the first year of being one full weekend, rather than four separate
days.”
Manager of
Renew Bath and Body, Ashley Ohl, is excited to participate for the first time
in Christmas in the Village, and bring in business.
“We’re looking forward to all the
lights being up on Elmwood and getting some new people who don’t always get to
come down,” Ohl said. “You know, get some new faces.”
Ashley Ohl, on Christmas in the Elmwood Village:
Phil Kline, composer of Unsilent
Night, is scheduled to perform at 7p.m. on
Friday, Dec. 12.
“He made this musical piece in the 90s to be played on multiple boomboxes at a
time,” Smith said. “It’s to create a moving sound cloud. You’ve got a couple of
people playing different tracks that synchronize, and they’ve now adapted it so
you can do it on smart phones. They want to have people play it on their smart
phones and create a march.”
Throughout the weekend there will be
local bands and street musicians playing, and the Lexington Co Op. will be roasting
nuts outside and other activities.
“For the community it’s a really cute
event,” Smith said. “People really like it.”
