It’s a big deal.”

Babett Larimer, owner of Squeaky Wheel Pottery

Through fresh-fallen snow, residents and shoppers flocked downtown last Saturday for the annual Holiday Hoopla on Small Business Saturday. The event is meant to highlight local businesses, from restaurants to boutiques to antique shops that continue to serve residents year-round.
Sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday marks the start of many business’s busiest seasons in the runup to Christmas.
“It’s a big deal,” said Babett Larimer, owner of Squeaky Wheel Pottery about the event.
For four years now, Squeaky Wheel Pottery has hosted ornament painting during the Hoopla. Larimer and her team pre-fire small ornaments and let families and kids of all ages paint them for their own trees.
The event was one of many along Second Street throughout the day as local businesses opened their doors to customers with events from live music to a vendor fair at the American Legion to picture opportunities with the Clauses and the Grinch.
Over at Oliver’s Grove Park, volunteers helped families roast marshmallows over an open fire.
Despite the many options provided at the park, for yet another year, the classic recipe for s’mores remained most popular, especially for children, according to Tom Schaefer, a volunteer at the event.
Pinecrest and McAuliffe elementary school choirs, along with the Spiral Singers braced the cold and snow to sing at the Levee Park Pavilion. They sang beneath stocking caps, hoods and scarves to a similarly bundled audience as snow continued to fall.
The event ended, as always, with the lighting of the tree at City Hall along with the snowflake decorations along Second street.
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church's "Good News Gang" sang a couple Christmas Carols as the crowd counted down for the tree lighting.
The holiday season has officially begun!