West Lafayette ushers in the holiday season with crafts and parade
WEST LAFAYETTE – West Lafayette was the place to be on Saturday, Dec. 7 as the village ushered in the holiday season with crafts, a parade, and maybe most importantly, a visit from Santa Claus. The West Lafayette Lions Club sponsored a pancake breakfast that morning at the West Lafayette Methodist Church, and Club Aries hosted a craft show at the First Baptist Church until 2 p.m.
The craft show, now in its 32nd year, originally was held at Ridgewood High School and then moved to the church. This year, it featured 30 vendors selling a wide variety of crafts and other items.
Club Aries is a civic organization that has about five to six active members. The craft show is their main fundraiser and whatever they make, they give back to the community. Club members work with Head Start and they find a family in the community who needs help with their gas or electric bill in January.
“We like that idea, because everyone helps out during the Christmas season, but not as much after Christmas,” said Carol Wears, charter member of the club. “Sometimes it’s colder in January than it is in December. We also try to give to the animal shelter.”
The club served hot dogs, coneys, chicken noodle soup, and chicken sandwiches during the craft show.
“We get to know the vendors and they’re all very nice people,” said Wears. “They have a lot of really nice stuff. If you didn’t come to the craft show, you’re missing out.”
The club has been in existence since 1973.
“It’s just a few of us girls in the club and we enjoy doing it,” said Wears. “In bad times and in good times, it’s fun. We just enjoy getting together.”
The West Lafayette Branch Library was all decked out for the holidays during its annual open house. Friends of the Library sponsor the open house each year and served refreshments including hot chocolate, punch, and cookies. Children were invited to make a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas ornament while they waited on the parade to begin.
“The library is a member of the West Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, and we like to partner with the chamber during Christmas in the Village,” said Andrea Smith, manager of the West Lafayette Library. “It’s an opportunity for people to come out and enjoy the community and see what the library has to offer for the kids and adults.”
One of the families enjoying the library open house was the Hardesty family. Kirstie Hardesty was there with her two children, Harrison, 4, and Huntley, 7 months old. Harrison enjoyed making a Rudolph craft before the parade.
“We come to the library a lot for their programs,” said Kirstie. “The last few years, we’ve been coming before the parade. There are so many educational opportunities for the kids. They just have some really good programs that are fun and teach a lot about social skills.”
Jeff and Carol Hardesty were also there with Kirstie and the kids.
“I used to bring Nathan [Hardesty], their dad, to story time at the library when he was little,” said Carol.
Although Harrison was a little shy, his mom said he was looking forward to seeing the firetrucks in the parade.
The parade passed by the library and featured the Ridgewood High School marching band, West Lafayette Homecoming Royalty, and many others including the man most anticipated by the children of West Lafayette, Santa Claus, who stopped by the First Baptist Church after the parade to hear all of the children’s Christmas wishes.
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