Freeland Chamber of Commerce

Santa Arrived in Freeland!

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On Friday, November 24^th, the Freeland Chamber of Commerce hosted its 1^st Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony in downtown Freeland. The event kicked off at 6:30 PM with Santa leading a crowd of about 50 family and children in a count down to lighting up a 12 foot tall tree. On the count of one, Trevor Arnold, Chamber Tourism Specialist, hit the switch and the tree was lit to a resounding cheer from the crowd. Bill O’Brien, Ranch Manager for the M-BAR-C Ranch, had decorated a bright red tractor to pull one of the ranch's hay wagons to take people about town to visit and shop.  Santa helped parents and children aboard the wagon. then took his rightful place on the buckboard nestled in between several children.  Songs were sung as stops were made along Main Street from Ace Hardware to BestaRound Pizza, Olivia's and Healthy Pet.

 

A primary goal for the event was to introduce people to businesses they had never visited before while creating sales for the participating businesses.  The Chamber arranged with many local businesses to stay open late. A "Santa's Shopping List" was issued at the Chamber and as shoppers stopped at the participating businesses they got their "shopping list" stamped.  This encouraged many of the shoppers to do some of their Christmas shopping. At the end of the evening the "shopping list" served as an entry form for a Chamber Christmas drawing to be held on Monday the 27^th at the Chamber. BestaRound Pizza had coupons good for a $1 slice of pizza, while the Chamber had hot cider and cookies to warm people up on a cold night. Another Santa visited participating businesses, providing photo opportunities with Santa for shoppers and business staff. Charlona Sawyer of Creative Advertising Solutions organized the event and remarked, “The shopping list served its purpose as time and time again people commented about Santa's Shopping List and how great it was to discover new stores they didn't know about. Many people said they didn't have time to do a lot of shopping that night, but would be back to do more shopping over the weekend and during the Christmas season.” Angela from Olivia’s reported, “A great success! Thank you!”

 

Another goal was to raise funds for the M-BAR-C Ranch. The ranch, owned by the Forgotten Children’s Fund, provides a ranch experience for children who are physically, mentally, emotionally or financially disadvantaged. The children learn to ride horses and participate in real ranch activities. The program is free and is conducted by an all volunteer staff that includes experienced cowboys and cowgirls with a special understanding of the needs of such affected children. By the end of the evening, over $1,250 in donations was collected for the ranch!

 

The Chamber would like to thank each of the following businesses for their participation and prize donations:  Ace Hardware, BestaRound Pizza, Cloud 9, Flowers by the Bay, Healthy Pet, Island Tea Company, Island Fabrics, Linds, Mutiny Bay Antique Mall, Mc Queen’s Gas, Station in Freeland, Olivia’s, Second Chance, The Paint Escape, The Beach Cabin, Locals Only Coffee and the Short Stop Texaco in Freeland.  Thank you to our volunteers the night of the event:  Tina Jarvis, Bill O’Brien, and Mike Dolan (Santa) from the M Bar C Ranch and Bob Bowling (our roaming visiting Santa).  And a special thank you to our Chamber coordinators that worked so hard behind the scenes to make this