Copyright cleveland.com
MEDINA, Ohio – Main Street Medina will officially kick off the holidays Nov. 21-23 with the 41st annual Candlelight Walk. One of Mayor Dennis Hanwell’s final responsibilities before leaving office will be to pull the switch at the gazebo Friday night at 7 p.m. to activate the holiday lights. “We plan to have a special acknowledgement for Mayor Hanwell that night to go along with the typical countdown,” said Main Street Medina Executive Director George Sam. “We hope The Grinch doesn’t spoil things.” Festivities will include screenings of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty’s Winter Wonderland,” the Holiday Parade of Lights and Light Up the Night Fireworks Saturday night. Sunday will include carriage rides, live reindeer and visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Sam said a free shuttle service will be available to transport visitors to various events Saturday from 2 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. The shuttles will run between The Common Ground at 220 N. State Road, Medina High School Performing Arts Center and Ella Canavan Elementary School at 825 Lawrence Street. “We really urge visitors to take advantage of this free service,” Sam said. “They can take the shuttle and won’t have to worry about traffic.” Holiday events throughout the weekend will include the Broadway Street Holiday Market sponsored by National Electrical Contractors Association/IBEW 306 and Joyce Factory Direct from 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday, noon to 9 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday; visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus at Santa’s house, sponsored by Serpentini Chevrolet; S’mores sponsored by Drug Mart located at the Warming Station on the square at 3 p.m. on Saturday while supplies last, Santa’s Workshop in the Huntington Bank Lobby on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. with photo ops with the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who, face painting, cookie decorating, games, letters to Santa, popcorn and hot chocolate – all for free. On Sunday there will be breakfast with Santa at Serenite Restaurant, Horse and Carriage rides from 4 to 6 p.m., sponsored by The Olive Tap, photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and live reindeer. Thyme2 is sponsoring a window decorating contest among the businesses. In addition, each day will feature so many free activities and musical entertainment. On Friday, catch a performance by Medina Chorus, photos with the Grinch, and pose in front of the Inter State Studio photo op. On Saturday Medina High School’s Encore group will be caroling around the square, Be sure to catch the photo opportunities with Frosty the Snowman and Crystal, and a performance by the Davis Parks School of the Arts Children’s Choir or Violinist Mary Ann. Check out the life-sized snow globe photo opportunities and performance, the Medina library’s Holiday Bookmobile and the Jazzercise Medina holiday performance. On Sunday, the Project 16 Dance Team will perform and Elsa will entertain. And don’t miss the performance by the Showbiz cast of The Best Christmas Pageant. A full schedule of events can be found at https://www.mainstreetmedina.com/candlelight-walk.html. “There’s a lot of new entertainment this year,” Sam said. “We want to have a lot of events and activities because we want people to feel there is always something special to see and do.”
