Hometown for the Holidays was a huge success
By C. Dials
On Friday, December 11, 2009, WTOL took over Adolphus Kraemer Park. Jerry Anderson and Chrys Peterson were in town for the live news broadcast, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for their segment "Hometown Holidays."
WTOL Channel 11 chose four towns to feature in the four weeks before Christmas.
Throughout the week the news highlighted several business from Oak Harbor which included; The Rocket Shop, National Bank of Oak Harbor, Oak Harbor Hardware, and Northern Manufacturing.
The broadcast shared interesting stories about what has made Oak Harbor what it is today and held a Toys for Tots and food drive for families in Ottawa County.
The 12° weather didn't prevent over 250 people from coming to the park and show their support by bringing unwrapped toys, food and clothing. The community raised a grand total of $2,411.00.
Toys for Tots received $200.00, BCS Food Bank at St. Paul Lutheran received $500.00 and the remaining balance went to the Ottawa County Holiday Bureau.
Both Charlie's Dodge trucks were completely filled with food and toys by the end of the broadcast and delivered that evening to the Oak Harbor United Methodist Church.
Some of the highlights of the evening were Santa & Mrs. Claus visiting with the children inside of the log cabin, St. Paul UCC performed their live nativity, Kersten's Korner and the Oak Harbor 8th grade choir sang Christmas carols, the log cabin committee was dressed in period clothing, and Frank Gluth was dressed as Adolphus Kraemer.
"It was wonderful to see the community come together in spite of the inclement weather and support such a good cause," said Valerie Winterfield, Executive Director, Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce.
Interesting facts about Oak Harbor:
1) Village founded in 1835. Known as Hartford until name changed to Oak Harbor in 1863.
2) Village will celebrate its 175th birthday next year (2010).
3) In the mid and late 1800's, the Portage River was used for both freight and passenger boats.
4) The 3 globe downtown streetlights, on Water Street, were first installed in 1914. (New, but similar in style, were installed in 1983/1984)
5) Colored globes on the downtown lights for Christmas were first used in 1927. The Christmas trees on the light poles were added in 1947.
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