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| Chamber event to take over downtown |
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| Written by Jonathan Partridge / Patterson Irrigator | |
| Wednesday, 05 December 2007 | |
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At a glance
Patterson residents with a hankering for the holiday spirit will have plenty to cheer about Saturday. First, folks can get some Christmas shopping done without leaving Patterson when the In-Town Holiday Mall kicks off at 9 a.m. at the Federated-Methodist Presbyterian Church.  Santa Claus comes riding into town during Patterson-Westley Chamber of Commerce's downtown Christmas event last year. Irrigator file photo. Then, Patterson-Westley Chamber of Commerce and the city of Patterson will host their annual downtown Santa and Electric Parade event starting at 5 p.m. It all should add up to a busy day of local yuletide merriment. “It’s all about the Christmas spirit and getting people downtown,” said Connie Debler, secretary at the Federated Church. Local shopping The In-Town Holiday Mall will include a slew of local vendors at Federated Church. As of Tuesday, 16 vendors had signed up to participate, including jewelers, a specialty chocolates business and the Patterson High School boosters, which will sell Tigers attire. All the vendors are from the West Side, Debler said. Annette Smith, a city councilwoman and former owner of Kudos Personalized Products, started the event at Best Western Villa Del Lago Inn in 2001 because some folks were frightened to travel to Modesto to shop following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Typically, the church has hosted the in-town mall on the first Saturday in Advent. However, that fell this year on the same day as several other events, including the Sac-Joaquin Section championship football game, in which Patterson High School played. As a result, organizers checked with the chamber about doing it this weekend and were told it would be no problem. In addition to hosting the mall, Federated Church will practice its live nativity that afternoon, which will be displayed at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. that day and at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Booth space for a table and chairs at the in-town mall is $50, and space is limited. Vendors only need to take their wares. Downtown festivities Chamber of commerce secretary-treasurer Debbie Calcote said the chamber has scaled back this year’s holiday event compared with last year’s all-day extravaganza, in part because it is the same day as the in-town mall. Still, there will be plenty of activities, including an all-new tree-decorating contest for businesses in South Park. As of Monday, there already were 12 people signed up for the contest. Calcote said the chamber would like to see as many as 40 decorators. Participants are asked to bring their own trees, real or artificial. The trees will stay in South Park until Jan. 2. The electric parade will kick off at 5:30 p.m., with various businesses and other groups. After Santa arrives on his sleigh, he will take photos with children on the back steps of the Center Building, which houses the chamber and the local historical museum. In the past, Santa photos took place at various Patterson banks, but Calcote said organizers wanted to focus on the chamber this year. One free photo with the big man in red will be available per family. Ellen Calmettes, president of the chamber, said people can bring a toy and leave a donation for a toy and coat drive at the chamber if they would like. Meanwhile, folks can go on hayrides and watch the tree-lighting. Crafts also will be for sale, and there will be a dance routine courtesy of Patterson Gymnastics. “I think it’s just going to be fun,” Calmettes said. Proceeds from a concession stand, which will open at 3:30 p.m., will go to the chamber’s toy and coat drive. The stand in North Park will sell hot items, such as hot dogs and chili, Calmettes said. The chamber still has openings for craft vendors, parade entries and tree decorating contest entrants. To reach Jonathan Partridge at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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