Garrettsville – On Saturday, November 30 hundreds of area residents gathered at Garrettsville’s clock tower for the annual Clock Tower Lighting & Visit with Santa Claus. At exactly 5:30 PM, village mayor Rick Patrick flipped the switch illuminating Garrettsville’s historic timepiece in dazzling yuletide colors. Those in attendance were also treated to delicious hot chocolate and cookies from McDonald’s, story time with Mrs. Claus courtesy of The Village Bookstore, carriage rides from the Bixler family, and caroling led by Chamber of Commerce Vice-President Barb Bejger, and Iva Walker. Hitching a ride aboard one of the GFN Joint Fire District fire trucks, Santa Claus arrived promptly at 6:00 PM and spent the evening catching up with area children and their families. Thank you to Garrettsville McDonald’s, DQ Grill & Chill, and the Villager for contributing items for the gift cups handed out at the event. 
The Garrettsville Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual shopping promotion, “Christmas on Main” is currently underway. Shoppers will have a chance to win $500 Chamber Bucks to be spent locally by shopping the small businesses in the community. The program runs through December 15th and works like this: every shopper can pick-up a card at participating merchants and each time they spend $5 with participating local merchants they will receive an ink stamp on their card. When the card is full of stamps, the cards can be returned to any participating merchant where it will be entered into the drawing. In order to be eligible for the drawing, all full cards need to be returned to a participating merchant by December 15th. Three winners will be drawn at the Chamber of Commerce’s Holiday Social on December 18th. There will be three prizes awarded: first prize is $500 Chamber Bucks to be spent at participating merchants, second prize is a poinsettia lottery tree and third prize is a $50 gift card to a local merchant. For a complete list of participating Chamber of Commerce members, visit shop.garrettsvillearea.com.
The invitations are out, and the reservations are coming in for the annual Chamber of Commerce Holiday Social on December 18th. This holiday event provides Chamber members with the opportunity to reconnect with other members, while enjoying a great buffet dinner. Chamber members planning to attend must RSVP by Saturday, December 14th by calling 330-472-7784/benjamin.coll@gmail.com.
Santa Claus will be at the Villager on Saturday, December 14th from 11 am to 1:30 pm. Children are invited to come in and visit with Santa and will receive a free photo and small gift. The Villager office is located at 8088 Main Street (corner of SR 82 & 88).
Happy Holidays & Happy New Year from your Garrettsville Area Chamber of Commerce!
