Black Press, The Cranbrook Townsman and the Kimberley Bulletin will once again be creating a magical Christmas Village from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 at the Cranbrook History Centre’s beautiful Royal Alexandra Hall.
This is the third year of the Christmas Village and the second that will take place at the Cranbrook History Centre. The first year the village was located in the Baker Street Mall in the old Sears location.
READ MORE: Christmas Village 2017
“There was a couple reasons we didn’t go [back] there,” said Zena Williams, publisher at the Cranbrook Townsman. “One mainly, we weren’t sure if the space would still be available, so we wanted to ensure that we had a permanent home for the village.”
And a permanent home has indeed been found with the relocation to the History Centre, which will once again be adorned with warm, festive holiday decorations and filled with Teddy Bear Gift Baskets and Gingerbread Creations, which will be auctioned off in order to raise funds for the United Way East Kootenay.
READ MORE: Christmas Village 2017 photos
“The United Way is a community organization that supports the community through investments that help the agencies that provide services to community members who need it,” explained Donna Brady Fields, Executive Director of the United Way East Kootenay. “Money for programs that aren’t necessarily covered in under funding pots, that the agencies might receive from any level of government or other granting procedure.”
She gave one example of how the funding is put to good use:
“Money for our seniors programming in our community is a great example, the funding they receive from Interior Health from government, does not support recreational activities. So we ensure that the seniors are not just sitting idle, United Way funding goes toward providing recreational activities whether that’s crafting or going out on outings, that type of thing.”
United Way relies heavily on the community for support. Fields said she feels that last years Christmas Village went very well, but they are hoping that this year’s event will be even more lucrative.
“This year we’ve already doubled the amount of entries going in, so to date we have about 35 teddybear baskets and ginger bread creations,” Williams said.
Also new this year is the addition of a traditional Christmas dinner and dance that will be held on Friday, Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. right in the middle of the village.
Tickets for this are $75 per person, with proceeds being donated to the Cranbrook History Centre, which is also in need of funding. Each person also will receive a key for a chance to win a mystery gift.
The times to visit the village are as follows: Tuesday 1pm to 4pm, Wednesday and Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to noon.