You’ll find plenty of local activities to help get you in the Christmas spirit. Here’s a sampling:
Christmas Tree Lighting/Horse Parade, Friday, Nov. 25
Downtown Urbana will be the place to be Friday evening. Here’s what Monument Square District (MSD) has in store:
5:30 p.m. – The first annual Tree Lighting Ceremony in Legacy Park on the southeast corner of Monument Square
6 p.m. – Urbana’s Second Annual All-Horse Parade, featuring lighted horses and carriages, starting at 6 p.m. from the 600 block of Scioto Street and traveling to Monument Square. The parade will circle around the monument and return to its starting point. Planned by Carr’s Belgians & Carriage Services, LLC and MSD
7 p.m. – Santa rides into town, escorted by the parade. He’ll stop at Santa Land, at the Gloria Theatre, 216 S. Main St., to hear children’s Christmas wishes. Snacks will be served and the Champaign County Youth Choir will perform.
Santa will be at the Gloria every Friday, 5 to 8 p.m., and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. leading up to Christmas (Dec. 24, he’ll be there noon to 2 p.m.).
Other Friday activities include free carriage rides, food vendors, extended hours at downtown shops, family activities at downtown businesses and carolers.
Shop Local on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 26
This Christmas shopping season support local businesses throughout Champaign County.
Sure, there’s Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving. And Cyber Monday after that. But in between is Small Business Saturday. Local merchants offer a unique selection of gifts (don’t forget gift certificates).
And your local purchases give back to our local economy. For every $100 you spend at a locally owned business, $68 stays here. But when you spend $100 at a locally based chain store, only $43 supports our local community.
Christmas Movies at the Gloria Theatre, Beginning Nov. 26
Seventy-five years ago this Christmas, Warren Grimes – aviation lighting pioneer, founder of Urbana’s Grimes Manufacturing and local philanthropist – opened the Gloria Theatre. He invested $100,000 to turn the theater into a state-of-the-art movie house of its day.
This Christmas season, starting this Saturday (Nov. 26), the Gloria will show Christmas classics, using today’s state-of-the-art technology – a newly installed 4K digital projection system, 7.1 surround sound and new 38-by-16-foot screen. The screen is about two and a half times larger than the theater’s previous screen.
“A Christmas Story” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26 and 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 27. Doors will open 30 minutes before each show. The $5 admission will benefit ongoing renovation of the Gloria by the GrandWorks Foundation.
“Home Alone” will be shown at the same times on Dec. 10 and 11. Check for updates on the Gloria Theatre Downtown Urbana Facebook page for movies that will be shown December 17 and 18 and on Christmas weekend, to mark the theater’s 75th anniversary.
The theater also will host “Prime Time Christmas,” an original play presented twice on December 3, at 2 and 6 p.m., by the Cornerstone Baptist Church of Springfield. Admission is free. For more information, visit springfieldchristmas.squarespace.com.
Beth Macy Book Talk and Signing, Tuesday, Nov. 29
Beth Macy with her proud high school English teacher, Margaret Tabor, after her Factory Man book signing at the Champaign County Library in 2014.
Not necessarily a holiday event. But certainly a prime opportunity to treat yourself – and buy the readers on your Christmas list a bestseller that’s won rave reviews from the likes of The New York Times, Kirkus Reviews and NPR. (By the way, Leonardo DiCaprio is already negotiating to produce and star in a movie adaptation.)
Beth Macy, New York Times best-selling author and 1982 Urbana High School graduate, will be back in town Tuesday, Nov. 29 to talk about and sign her second nonfiction bestseller, Truevine – at 7 p.m. in the Sara Landess Room of Urbana University’s Student Center. The event is sponsored by the Champaign County Library.
Two years ago, Beth packed to overflowing the Champaign County Library meeting room for a book talk and signing for her first bestseller, Factory Man. That book is being developed by Tom Hanks as an HBO miniseries.
Truevine is a Kirkus Awards finalist. The Kirkus Reviews says of Beth and Truevine: “A consummate chronicler of the American South spotlights the extraordinary history of two kidnapped African-American brothers enslaved as a circus sideshow act…. This first-rate journey into human trafficking, slavery, and familial bonding is an engrossing example of spirited, determined reportage.”
And I know from her Factory Man talk in Urbana, Beth tells a great, entertaining story about the sleuthing and relentless reporting that goes into creating a well-told work of nonfiction. See you there!
Copies of Truevine will be available for purchase. The Friends of the Library will host a reception following the talk and signing.
No Room at the Inn, Messiah Lutheran Church, Sunday, Dec. 4
Here’s a great way to celebrate Christmas and help the homeless. No Room at the Inn, from 2 to 5 p.m. will raise money for the Caring Kitchen homeless shelter. The event features:
- A display of hundreds of nativity scenes from around the world
- An angel room
- A concert by choirs from Urbana United Methodist Church, First Presbyterian Church, Episcopal Church of the Epiphany and the Messiah Lutheran Church
- Children’s activities from 2 to 4:30 p.m.
- A silent auction
- Homemade chicken noodle dinner for $5 from 2 to 5 p.m.
Messiah Lutheran is located at 1013 East Lawn Ave., Urbana.
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