Carlyle's Dickens Village Festival celebrated 15 years of festive fun on Friday, Dec.1 and Saturday, Dec. 2, as the community was once again transformed into a Victorian-era winter wonderland.
听听听听听听听听听听听 This year, the weekend-long celebration not only attracted local and out-of-town visitors from as far away as Toronto; but it also brought cameras from CBC and Access television to the community.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淒ickens continues to get bigger and better,鈥� says Ken King of King's Department Store. 鈥淲e take our hats off to the many people who work so hard to make this festival the great event that it is.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Michael Ellis of Michael's Coffee Shop and Bakery in Carlyle agrees.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淲here else can you get together with 1,000 of your friends to celebrate in such a unique way?鈥� says Ellis. 鈥淭here's something for everyone at Dickens. It's an amazing event.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 The festival featured returning favorites, including: High Tea at the United Church (featuring Irene Doty's collection of 80 hats), the Cornerstone Family and Youth Festival of Trees, a visit from Santa, four English Markets, Tiny Tim's Taste Tour, musical entertainment at Fezziwig's Pub, stew and biscuits courtesy of the Rusty Relics Museum, free horse and carriage rides, food vendors, two lighted parades and sold-out performances from Cornerstone Theatre Group's re-imagining of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol.'
听听听听听听听听听听听 This year's Cornerstone production - 'Carol' - was a musical take on the Scrooge story, set on Wall Street and written by Jesse, Dianne and Samantha Twietmeyer and Clay Johnstone.
听听听听听听听听听听听 New additions to this year's festival included Scrooge's Candy Shop 鈥� where kids young and old could visit 'The Grinch' and photo-op cut-out props painted by local artist, Marylin Carter.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Realtor Jade Moore says attending her first Dickens Festival 鈥渁bout three years ago鈥� inspired her to join the Dickens Committee.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 kept coming back to Dickens and I liked it so much that I decided to join the committee,鈥� says Moore. 鈥淚t's an amazing event and I'm happy to be a part of it.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Longtime Dickens committee member Shelley Slykhuis says this year's Dickens was a success, aided by 鈥渟uper weather.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭he High Tea served about 400 people over two days,鈥� says Slykhuis. 鈥淎ll of our street vendors sold out of food; some quite early. The Chowder Shack sold 280 bowls of soup and the Knights of Columbus sold 319 bowls of chili! Those are just two examples.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Longtime Dickens volunteer Sandra Robertson says that this year's festival holds special memories for her and many other volunteers.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭his year's photo wall in the hall is a tribute dedicated to Alyce Stockton,鈥� says Robertson of听 Stockton, a longtime resident of Carlyle and Dickens enthusiast who passed away earler this year. 鈥淎lyce lived for Dickens. And she would be so pleased with how it's grown.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 听鈥淎 community festival is made up of the contributions of many, many people,鈥� says town councillor Jenn Sedor. 鈥淭he Dickens Committee does fabulous work on their own and many of us from the community are proud to support our hard-working festival committee with this great event.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭he 15th annual festival is now in the books as a very successful festival as far as weather, attendance and providing a financial boost for the many organizations involved,鈥� says Slykhuis. 鈥淲e are grateful for everyone who made our 15th festival such a great event.鈥�
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听听听听听听听听听听听 Winners of 2017's Dickens Village Festival decorating competition are as follows:
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听听听听听听听听听听听 Business:
听听听听听听听听听听听 Victorian: King's Department Store
听听听听听听听听听听听 Traditional: New Dimension Hair Studio
听听听听听听听听听听听 Novelty: Dairy Queen
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听听听听听听听听听听听 Residential:
听听听听听听听听听听听 Victorian: Ron and Lois Paul
听听听听听听听听听听听 Traditional: Dennis MacDonald and Connie Young
听听听听听听听听听听听 Novelty: Bill and Lorie Wyatt
听听听听听听听听听听听 Apartment/Condo: Glenn and Marie McConnell
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