Heather Latter
Whether it was the favourable temperatures over the weekend, or simply the community spirit of Emo residents shining through, the annual “Holly Daze” festivities were deemed a success.
“It was great,” enthused Tom Jackson of Tompkins.
“As far as Front Street traffic, I think it was probably one of the better years.”
Jackson said he was pleased with the number of people who stopped by the store, as well as how many just seemed to be around the community on Friday and Saturday event.
“Maybe the weather had a lot to do with it because it wasn’t storming and it wasn’t minus-40 out, either,” he reasoned.
The “Holly Daze” lineup featured “Crafts Galore” both days at the Emo Legion, with vendors selling their products and many raffle prizes up for grabs.
Soup and sandwiches were available for lunch, with Santa visiting on Saturday afternoon.
A “Beautiful Baby” contest was held at the Hair and Body Care Shoppe while shoppers were encouraged to stop by participating businesses to enter for a chance to win one of two $250 Emo Chamber of Commerce gift certificates.
The winners were Vince Allan (drawn at Tompkins) and Lawrence Fadden (drawn at the Circle D Restaurant).
The highlight Friday night was the annual Christmas parade, which saw upwards of 20 floats.
“It went extremely well,” said organizer Paul Koomans, noting there was a great turnout of floats and plenty of people who came out to watch.
“The weather co-operated so that certainly helped,” he added.
“And the floats were all very well done.”
Koomans said the parade always seems to bring out a sense of community spirit.
“Emo has a tremendous community spirit,” he remarked. “And I think through events like the Christmas parade is where you see that come out.”
Koomans also noted the Chamber of Commerce approaches the parade as an event where they can give back to the community.
“I think that is well-received by the community,” he said. “And there are a lot of great volunteers and great people in the community who, when given the opportunity such as this, will shine.
“They just take the ball and run with it,” he added, saying the Chamber thanks all those who participated in the parade because without all those volunteers, there wouldn’t be one.
“It is a huge commitment to prepare a float and we’re very thankful to those who take the time to do it to help make the parade the success that it was.”
Koomans said the parade has become a recognized event over the years, with everyone aware that it takes place on the Friday night so people can plan and prepare for it.
“And everybody wins when the weather co-operates and we had that this year again,” he noted.
The Emo rec council offered hot chocolate and cookies on Front Street during the parade while the Emo Hospital Auxiliary led the convoy collecting non-perishable donations for the Emo Food Bank.
Then immediately following the parade, there was a fireworks display from the Front Street river bank, co-sponsored by New Gold, the Municipality of Emo, and the Emo Chamber of Commerce.
“It was really great to see all the people out,” enthused Brendon Loney of Cloverleaf.
“There were certainly more people around than normal, and we had a huge rush at about 7 p.m. after the parade and fireworks had wrapped up,” he noted.
Loney said many people purchased pizzas, taking advantage of the special coupon in the “Holly Daze” edition of the Fort Frances Times.
However, not all stores in Emo saw quite the success that Tompkins and Cloverleaf did.
Cheryle Curtis of Meyer’s Clothing said she wasn’t overwhelmed with customers.
“I don’t think there was as many people as last year,” she noted, though admitting it is hard to gauge.
“I think it’s partly because people start shopping so much earlier these days,” she reasoned.
But Loney said “Holly Daze” does get more visitors coming to Emo and provides some festivities for the residents there.
And the merchants all agree they would like to build on the success of the event to make it even bigger and better in coming years.
“We are always open to suggestion that anyone has,” Jackson remarked.
“There’s always room for improvement so we’ll have to see what next year brings,” echoed Koomans.
