Santa's arrival to headline December First Friday event

Wednesday, December 3, 2014
As it begins to look a lot like Christmas in downtown Greencastle, Kathy Jones (left) and Lynn Taylor decorate the front window of Shuee's Furniture and Mattress recently. A number of local businesses are more festive in the name of of the Greater Greencastle Chamber of Commerce 2014 Spirit of Christmas Window contest. The traveling plaque for the winning business will be presented at First Friday at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5 on the Franklin Street side of the Courthouse Square. (Photo by JARED JERNAGAN)

The downtown First Friday events have been heralded as a success since arriving on the Greencastle scene back in May. Bringing together art, music and commerce, the monthly affairs have attracted visitors to the spruced-up downtown even as the weather has turned colder.

Even so, the biggest visitor to First Friday will be arriving this Friday when Santa Claus comes to the Putnam County Courthouse Square.

Besides being the December edition of First Friday, the 5-7 p.m. festivities will serve as a sort of kickoff to the Christmas season in downtown Greencastle.

Santa will get things started with his arrival shortly after 5 p.m. at the Putnam County Senior Center, 9 W. Franklin St. Kids will have a chance to visit and present their letters to Santa.

At 5:30 p.m., carolers will arrive from the DePauw University School of Music to share their Christmas cheer through song.

The event will draw to a close with a pair of downtown holiday traditions, as 6:30 p.m. will mark the presentation of the Greater Greencastle Chamber of Commerce Spirit of Christmas as well as the lighting of the tree around the Courthouse.

The last two events, previously a part of the Greencastle Civic League Lights of Love ceremony, have been incorporated into First Friday. The Civic League is taking a year off from Lights of Love to reassess the program and decide how to proceed.

The merrymaking will also feature a 30-minute showing of "Shrek the Halls" with popcorn on the Fun Flicks Big Screen.

Other events around the square include face painting at the Game Warehouse, Christmas trees for sale by Snow Pines Nursery on the north side of the square, hot chocolate and cider provided by the Senior Center and carriage rides available from Almost Home.

Everything will be presented free of charge thanks to Main Street Greencastle, the First Friday Committee, the Chamber and a number of other corporate sponsors.

"Many Chamber members have contributed to making this event possible," Chamber Executive Director Tammy Johnson said.

Anyone with questions about the First Friday event should contact either Johnson at the Chamber office at 653-4517 or Tami Van Rensselaer at the Putnam County Development Center at 653-2427.

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