The annual tree lighting, seen here, is one of the central events of Ridgefield’s annual Hometown Celebration. The day filled with events is Dec. 3.
The city of Ridgefield will come together to rein in the Christmas spirit as the annual Hometown Celebration is set to take place Saturday, Dec. 3.
Events ranging from chances to make crafts, to shop and take part in decoration judging, to entertainment with both music and dance are all involved in the day-long set of events taking part throughout downtown Ridgefield.
The event is the city’s official kickoff of the Christmas season, Ridgefield Deputy City Manager Lee Knottnerus said. New for this year’s holiday decorating contest is a business holiday decorating contest which pits downtown businesses against each other to see who can show off their festive spirit the best. Saturday’s event serves as a kickoff for the competition, with a people’s choice category being part of the activity, allowing those out and about during the celebration to make their choices on the “best dressed” of the different shops.
The other different parts of the celebration are always getting bigger, Knottnerus said, mentioning that things like the community bazaars and the kids activity center offering more and more every year. Three different bazaars will take place over the course of the day, with the outdoor event at Overlook Park having about 30 different vendors signed up as of last week, Ridgefield Community Relations Specialist Jessica Kipp said in an email.
The Ridgefield First Saturdays group helps to coordinate the event, as the Hometown Celebration has come to be a part of the annual series of monthly happenings in the city.
Knottnerus said that the First Saturdays group has members involved with different businesses and groups like the Ridgefield Art Association or the Ridgefield Farmers Market. First Saturdays, which started in May of 2015 after community members devised having regular events for the city, has garnered some statewide recognition, as First Saturdays received a “Municipal Excellence” award from the Association of Washington Cities over the summer in the “Small City Success” category.
“Every month we have more and more people,” Knottnerus said about First Saturdays. “Every month I have more people call and say ‘I want to be involved next time’ … We have repeat customers and it’s growing all the time.”
Given that growing precedent, Knottnerus said she was expecting 2016’s edition of the Hometown Celebration to be a success. She said the appeal of the “small-town, hometown” type of events has proven to be a big draw of the celebration.
“The focal point is always the tree lighting,” Knottnerus said, mentioning the illuminating event that happens right about sunset.
Dance Fusion NW will be performing, hot drinks and cookies will be given away and a community sing-along will feature in the lighting.
Knottnerus mentioned that the tree lighting in particular was a nice “coming together” of the community, many of whom had been running around to the different locations offering festivities throughout the day, all congregating at Overlook Park.
For the upcoming festivities, Knottnerus invited both those from outside the city as well as those within Ridgefield, specifically those who might have moved into the city recently, as it would provide a solid opportunity to see who’s all a part of the growing community.
“Everyone is welcome; we like to show off our town. We’re a very welcoming community,” Knottnerus said, “but I’m really hoping that we get a lot of people that attend from Ridgefield. We are growing. We have a lot of new neighborhoods, a lot of new people, and it’s really a good opportunity to meet your new neighbors and to get to know each other, and to celebrate the wonderful city that we live in during one of the happiest seasons of the year.”
