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Upper Canada Village transitions from pumpkins to Victorian Santa
The Pumpkinferno lights have gone out in some 60,000 hand-carved pumpkins, that delighted 35,000 visitors of all ages at Upper Canada Village this fall.
Despite a rainy and cool fall, Pumpkinferno hosted over 35,000 visitors, a performance that put the event close to its target for 2014.
Over 1,000 children from the Upper Canada District School Board and the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario painted real pumpkins that were part of the Children’s Pumpkin Patch exhibit.
Pumpkinferno also showed its appeal as it travelled across the province with a new installation at Dynamic Earth in Sudbury. Fall visitation to Dynamic Earth rose by 30 percent with the added appeal of 15 of Upper Canada Village’s artistic pumpkin exhibits.
“We had a slow start this year due to the very rainy fall weather, but traffic really picked up each week,” said Geoff Waycik, Manager, Upper Canada Village. “Feedback from our guests has been really positive. This year we were able to respond to requests for new exhibits, and we introduced about 50 all new…”
“Our team is now quickly dismantling and storing our Pumpkinferno displays to get ready for an exciting Alight at Night event that will open on Friday, December 5.”
Preparing for Alight at Night
The ever popular holiday lights festival Alight at Night at Upper Canada Village will be lighting up the Eastern Ontario sky beginning Friday, night, December 5.
Alight at Night is introducing two exciting new experiences this year, a new Ferris Wheel and a transformation of Crysler Hall into Saint Nick’s Merry Mansion.
Imagine the spectacular view of over one million lights decorating Upper Canada Village from 50 feet high up in a Ferris Wheel!
The Ferris Wheel set in the Village fairgrounds will provide visitors to Alight at Night with the most spectacular view ever. Rides on the ferris wheel will be available on a first come – first served basis and will be included with regular admission.
Families will love stopping by Crysler Hall newly decorated as Saint Nick’s Merry Mansion to visit a Victorian themed Santa Claus.
Dressed in a luxurious red suit with rich brocade, Santa will be available to hear Christmas wishes until Tuesday, December 23, 2014. Visitors will be able to get a keepsake family photo with Santa in his finest Victorian attire.
Saint Nick’s Merry Mansion is sponsored by Leon’s.
Santa will also host a special ‘Fun and Lunch with Santa event at the Harvest Barn on Saturday, December 13 starting at 1:30 p.m. Space is limited and reservations are required.
Complete festival details including dates, times and pricing can be found at www.AlightatNight.ca or by calling the Customer Service Unit at 613-543-4328 or 800-437-2233.
News
Successful Relay for Life in Crysler Park
“It has simply been awesome,” said Carolyn Bourassa, community manager of the Canadian Cancer Society, Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry, Prescott – Russell, “We had 26 teams taking part in the relay, and we think that we will raise between $50 – $55,000 just today.”
Over 200 actual walkers and more than 100 volunteers were all at Crysler Beach on Saturday, June 20, for the annual Relay for Life. “This is our third fundraising relay event this spring,” Bourassa said. “We held ones at Maxville and Plantagenet earlier in the spring. Here at Crysler Beach, 18 cancer survivors led our opening walk.”
This was the first time that Crysler Beach has been the site of the walk. “The Parks of the St. Lawrenc invited us to ‘try out’ Crysler this year.” Bourassa explained. “We have found this beach a perfect venue, cozy, friendly and shady, with great facilities. And the weather today has been fantastic”
At the Crysler Beach event, the relay changed from an all night walk to a noon to midnight schedule to make the Walk a little more family friendly. “It seems to have been successful,” said Bourassa. “We also added some fun activities like manicure and bead laps, and Zoomba and token prizes for lap events. Lots of families are here together. And we could not have held this activity without the volunteers and sponsors who have been so generous.”
The need for cancer fundraisers remains ongoing. The money raised at events like Relay for Life goes to support research for a cure, to the Wheels of Hope, Peer Support groups and Prevention and Information.
News
Halloween Food Drive
Many members of the Iroquois community have come to expect more than just ‘trick-or-treators’ knocking at their doors on Halloween.
For the past 14 years, a group of teenagers gr. 9-12 from Dixon’s Corners Community and Williamsburg Christian Reformed Churches have organized a food drive between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on October 31st.
They simply walk in small groups, door-to-door collecting non-perishable items for the Dundas County Food Bank in South Dundas.
The group chose this specific date to collect food because it is an evening when most families are home and already expect people knocking on their doors.
This drive has become one of the largest the food bank relies on each year.
With increased interest and a few new groups who have joined the youth groups, the food drive expanded into Morrisburg and last year, when over 2900 food items were collected.
That’s 700 more items than the previous year.
They hope to beat the amount this year.
Much like the ‘rules’ of trick-or-treating, the teens will only knock on doors where the lights are on.
The goal is to eventually have enough help to cover all roads in both Iroquois and Morrisburg but given the volunteer numbers for this year, not every road will be covered.
If your road is missed, you can still donate by bringing your food items directly to the food bank, which is located in Morrisburg.
The DC youth group is thankful for the support they experience each year and looks forward to another fun and successful night helping their local communities.
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