News

A Chester Story

Posted December 07, 2014 10:00 pm

By Pete Spitler The Herald Tribune

CHESTER -- Event organizers didn't need snow shovels or rock salt, but Mother Nature still made her presence felt during the 26th Annual Christmas on the River celebration in Chester.

Heavy rain on Friday cancelled the Lighted Parade and carriage rides and thick clouds on Saturday made for a RealFeel temperature of 28 degrees, according to AccuWeather.

Despite the frightful weather, the Randolph County Courthouse was still buzzing with four floors of its popular Craft Show. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3553, Chester Skateland and St. John Lutheran School also had craft shows of their own.

"We always look forward to the holidays in Chester," said Chester Mayor Tom Page. "It's a big thing."

The craft shows offered a variety of items for sale, including wreaths, decorations, edible items and woodcarvings.

"Christmas on the River has grown," said Patsie Hopkins, whose booth at Chester Skateland featured vintage items that had been repurposed. "It's been big and it's been cut back a little bit, but these last four years, the people who have been involved have been able to bring a lot more to the weekend.

"(There's) a lot more group activities to bring families in and people have brought new ideas in."

Also at Chester Skateland, craftsman Bill Lang was selling custom-made items that were individually carved and fitted together from different varieties of wood in a process called "Intarsia."

Intarsia uses various sizes, species and shapes of wood fitted together to create a type of mosaic-like picture. The wood's natural grain and color are used to develop a variation in the pattern.

"It's just like painting, but with wood," he said.

Page kicked off the festivities on Thursday with the Grand Illumination of the Community Christmas tree at Chester Square Gazebo Park.

The Chester High School Band, under direction of Director Steve Colonel, performed holiday music while Scott Wunderlich, youth minister at First Baptist Church, offered the blessing for the season.

"It gets everybody in the spirit, I think," Page said. "One thing I want everyone to keep in mind is all the Christmas lights and everything that's strung up over town was done by city employees.

"Sometimes, we fail to remember how difficult of a job that is, so my hat is off to them for doing that."

The official theme for the weekend was "All Aboard the Polar Express! The bell still rings for those who truly believe!" and the Chester Public Library took advantage of that with a special event aimed at children and families.

The one-hour event included hot chocolate with a cookie, Christmas songs and a telling of the famous story.

Originally scheduled for three presentations, the library had to add a fourth due to demand, according to Librarian Lisa Wittenborn.

Other events and activities included the St. John Lutheran Christmas Bazaar, St. Mary's Catholic School Chicken and Dumpling Dinner, the Holiday Home Tour and a live nativity scene at Cole Memorial Park.

The Gingerbread House and Christmas Tree decorating contests were cancelled due to lack of entries, according to Chester Recreation Director Patti Carter.

"Overall, everything else has gone really well," Carter said. "We're going to evaluate (the Gingerbread House and Christmas Tree contests) and see what we can decide.

"I don't know if they will be there next year or not."

Organizers had not yet made a decision on whether or not to reschedule the parade by the Herald Tribune's press time. The parade was postponed a week due to weather in 2013 and ultimately cancelled when the postpone date included snow and ice.

Moving forward, Carter said organizers are considering "revamping" the three-day event.

"We're going to look at things we can do differently," Carter said.

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