From the North Pole to northern Marion County
Staff writer
While Santa was the main attraction Saturday at the Lincolnville annual Sleigh Bell Social, there was a way for people to shop for Christmas without leaving the community.
Of the more than 100 people that attended, 12 vendors, almost all of them traveled to the small town to sell their wares.
Primary organizer, Brandy Hanson, said this year participants could do some Christmas shopping, while taking their kids out to have a chance to talk to Santa.
A few years ago, the town council and organizers thought it would be great to link to see Santa with a vendor show.
Hanson, who was responsible for putting the event together, tried to get the message out to people on what was happening in Lincolnville.
“I am on the city council, and I do all of the celebrations,” she said.
She realized Marion, Hillsboro, and Peabody had their Christmas celebrations, so the Sleigh Bell Social was among the last Christmas celebrations in the county.
“This year, like last year, we didn’t charge a vendor fee,” she said. “Eventually, we will start to charge.”
The town charges for putting on Octoberfest.
Hanson remembers the town holding a Christmas shopping event, and while it was highly successful, it never returned after COVID-19.
Hanson wanted to get back to some of what the community once did.
“It is really good to get something up and going,” she said. “It’s nice to see people here.”
Santa showed up for two hours and talked to about 50 young kids and was told what they wanted for Christmas.
Jimmy Shipman played Santa Claus, something he has done for years around Marion County.
“I love doing it,” he said. “It’s cool to see the kids’ reactions.”
Before Santa Claus arrived kids decorated gingerbread, cookies and other treats.
Lester Kaiser, fire chief and longtime Lincolnville resident, liked that even a community of 180 residents was able to put on events that attract people from other places.
“I have lived here my entire life,” Kaiser said. “I moved away three different times for three years at the most. The last time I came back I said this is home.”
Kaiser’s wife, Barb, said the Christmas Lincolnville event has been happening for at least 30 years.
Like her daughter, Brandy Hanson, she said the community and town tries not to compete with other events in the county.