Elmwood Village hosts holiday celebration

By Laney Hill and Stephanie Vogel

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 Renw Bath & Body

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.

            “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.”