Tis the Season!

Across the county, the Christmas season is well and truly underway, with the annual lighting of Teuscher Square and Santa’s visit to the Grace Fire Station taking place since last week’s paper, and the Festival of Trees and Community Concert scheduled for the end of this week.

Teuscher Square

“This is our biggest event of the year—we all look forward to this,” Bancroft City Clerk Debbie Swensen said while filling cups of homemade hot chocolate for the large crowd that gathered in the middle of town for the seasonal lighting of Teuscher Square.  While a Bancroft tradition, the celebration is open to everyone in the surrounding communities, and even further afield.

Swensen shared the story of one year she had been purchasing items for the Lighting and been asked by another shopper why she was buying so many items.  After learning that the materials were for the city celebration in Bancroft, the family (who was from Blackfoot) learned that a wheelchair-accessible Santa would be available for free to havbe pictures taken, and decided to make the trip down.  “It was amazing.  Their daughter had always been afraid of Santa, and had never had a chance to visit with him before.  But it worked out here, and it was a great experience!” 

The welcoming feeling of the Bancroft city celebration is pervasive.  When people rhapsodize about the advantages of small towns over cities, this is the kind of thing they probably have in mind.  It feels like everyone is out on the street to share in the moment, and everyone is just as excited for their neighbors kids as their own to visit with Santa.  

The Grinch and Frosty mingled with the crowd, handing out chocolate “coal” and chocolate coins respectively.  Kids played night games on the well-lit, closed off street to a backdrop of Christmas music and convivial conversation.

The light pavilion itself is spectacular, with the interior being created by the 2nd grade students at North Gem, and other students at the school responsible for ongoing care and replacement of bulbs throughout the season.  A nativity manger rests to the side of the pavilion, in homage to the more serious origins of the holiday.

Burn barrels kept the crowd warm and provided an easy, comfortable place for meeting up with neighbors, friends and family.  Spudnuts were homemade by Larue Workman from Soda Springs, and, to break journalistic neutrality, were amazing!  

“Everyone comes together.  We have a lot of volunteers, and the city does its part, and it’s just a great time of year,” Swensen said.  

The best way to understand exactly how warm and welcoming the experience is would be to visit for yourself, as it’s hard to convey in words the small town magic that it invokes.  If you missed your chance this year, make sure to put it on your calendar for next year!

“We want people from any community to have a chance for this kind of Christmas party, and we definitely welcome anyone who wants to come,” Swensen said.

Santa Comes to Grace

It is, of course, Santa’s busiest season of the year, and one that brought him to the Grace Fire Station over the weekend.  Santa’s liaison for the visit is the Chamber of Commerce, who made sure that he had a comfortable spot indoors to visit with the kids of Grace as their parents mingled in the Fire Station.

Hot cocoa and treats were on offer as hopeful kids with a lot on their lists made their way to visit with the Clauses themselves.  

“It’s something that the community really looks forward to,” Chamber of Commerce Vice President Lara Peck said.  Kayzlee, her daughter, was volunteering as an elf to help to the guests of honor with the long line of kids waiting for their turn.

Like everywhere at this time of year, the adults in attendance smiled as their youngsters opened up about the many things they hoped to find under their trees.  Grace city mayor Jackie Barthlome and City Councilwoman Kathy Tillotson, among many other city employees, were there to support the yearly visit.

More to Come

There are plenty more items on the calendar all around Caribou county in the upcoming days and weeks, so keep your ears open.  Most immediately, the Festival of Trees in Soda Springs will be held on December 6 at 5:30 p.m.  

The Caribou Community Orchestra and Choir performance is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on December 8 in the Soda Springs High School Auditorium.  The concert has been in rehearsal and preparation stages for the last month plus, and should be an amazing night of music and talent.

On December 14, Porter’s Pub on Main Street in Soda Springs will be holding a raffle and fundraiser for Toys for Tots from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.  A Porketta sandwich for $12 a serving will be sold, with all the proceeds going to Toys for Tots. Raffle tickets donated by local businesses with be sold at the event.  Winter hours at the pub started this week, and are now Monday and Tuesday 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m