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Olde Fashioned Christmas at Lanterman’s Mill is holiday tradition
Olde Fashioned Christmas at Lanterman’s Mill
By Bob Jackson
YOUNGSTOWN
The weather outside was anything but frightful for Saturday’s opening day of the annual Olde Fashioned Christmas at Lanterman’s Mill in Mill Creek Park.
The event, which takes place each year on the weekend after Thanksgiving, features three floors of artisans and musicians — many of them dressed in period costumes — inside the rustic mill, which sits just off Canfield Road near Glenwood Avenue. More artisans line a walkway outside between the mill and a nearby covered bridge. It will continue from 11 a.m to 5 p.m. today.
“People love this event,” said Linda Kostka, development and marketing director for Mill Creek MetroParks. “Generations of families come every year. It has become a tradition because so many people are home for the holidays.” The holiday event has been going on for at least 20 years now, she said.
“Tradition” is a word used frequently by visitors in explaining what draws them to the mill each year.
Three generations of the Sanders family, whose roots are in Youngstown and Mill Creek Park, were among those who visited Saturday. Ervin Sanders, 82, and his wife, Mary Catherine, 78, were with their son and daughter-in-law, Greg and Lisa Sanders, and grandsons Dominic, 7, and Orlando, 6, who live in Chicago.
“It’s such a nice tradition,” Lisa Sanders said. “It’s just wonderful that they do this here every year.” She said it was a “happy accident” that her family got to come this year.
“We don’t always get to come home for Thanksgiving because sometimes the weather is too bad. But we come to the park every time we’re home,” she said. “Greg and I grew up in the park, so we want our kids to know it as well.”
Likewise, her in-laws said the park is also tied to their youth and has always been an important part of their lives. They will soon be married 60 years, and plan to have a celebration at Pioneer Pavilion, Mary Catherine Sanders said.
Tom Liggett, 59, and his friend, Jean Hannen, 65, said they came from Atwater to visit the mill Saturday.
“We’ve been to it before and liked it,” Liggett said.Liggett said he happened across the mill while driving through the area one day a few summers ago. He stopped to look at it, and came back another day with Hannen. The abundance of handmade wares is the lure for them to come for the Christmas weekend.
“And the scenery is beautiful,” Liggett said.
The artisans and their creations appeal to Betty Ann Nagy of Youngstown, who had brought friends from out-of-town to sample the local flavor.
“You don’t get things that are made in China. I don’t mind spending a little bit more money when I know something is handmade.”
She also enjoys the annual tradition of roasting chestnuts over an open fire, with visitors being allowed to sample them.
“It’s a great tradition,” said Nagy, who said she serves as a volunteer in the park. The park goes through about 75 pounds of chestnuts during the two-day event.
“And no matter how crowded it gets, people are always nice,” Nagy said. “People aren’t pushing and shoving and fighting. It’s just a nice event.”
Kostka said park officials were expecting between 4,000 and 5,000 visitors to the mill over the weekend, largely because of the mild weather.
“It will be crowded, but that makes the vendors happy,” she said, laughing.
Kostka said the mill itself is one of the main reasons the annual event has become such a popular draw for the holidays.
“The mill is one of those iconic symbols of Mill Creek MetroParks and I think it really brings back that feeling of nostalgia and old-world-type events that come to mind when you think of the park and the holidays,” she said.