Brrrrr!  The weather has been surprisingly chilly this week!  We are certainly looking forward to a milder weekend, just in time for more holiday festivities!  Just a few of the fun things to do...

Saturday the 11th is "A Night Before Christmas," our annual candlelight Christmas event on Main Street.  Shops will stay open from 6 to 9 with carolers, luminaries, poetry people, Land of Sky Barbershop Quartet, Storytelling, Horse drawn wagon rides and SANTA! 

Also on Saturday, enjoy An Old Fashioned Christmas at Blue Ridge Books.  They've planed a day and evening of Christmas spirit, appropriate for the entire family.  At 2:00 pm, we will offer several readers' theater performances of Christmas writings, including Little Bett and the Angel by Angela Dove and Dove's adaptation of Coyote Christmas by S.D. Nelson.  Beginning at 4:00 p.m., children and adults are invited to come in out of the cold and help make Christmas ornaments for our live Christmas tree! We will have supplies available to make traditional ornaments such as  popcorn chains, paper chains and foil stars. Experience a little of how Christmas used to be and learn about the Appalachian heritage.  At 7:00 p.m., Frances Smathers Cutshaw, M.Div., Appalachian Musical Heritage Enthusiast and Music Teacher at Haywood Christian Academy, will be sharing some  Appalachian seasonal ballads, stories, and arrangements on the Appalachian Lap Dulcimer. She will also lead carols so that everyone can enjoy singing along.  Relive a holiday from years gone by as Ernestine Upchurch shares her childhood Christmas stories of growing up in Haywood County.   There will be hot cider and some old fashioned treats to enjoy. Take a break from shopping and drop in for a while.

Saturday night we also welcome international bluegrass superstar, Ricky Scaggs, to Lake Junaluska for a holiday concert!

Well, we have finally arrived at the first full weekend of December and as usual it is chock full of holiday cheer.  This weekend tends to kick of the real celebrations each year.  I was caught off guard when I turned down Main Street after dark one evening recently to find that all the Christmas lights were up and sparkling.  It was like turning into a glittering wonderland.

A good excuse to go stroll downtown, a special holiday Art After Dark takes place on Main Street tonight (Dec. 3), with many shops staying open late and serving refreshments (think wine, cheese, Christmas cookies!) to enjoy while you browse and hundreds of luminaries lining the street.

There's also the Mud Dabbers annual open house this weekend (today, Sat & Sun) that features a (free!) hand-made miniature pottery mug to drink hot apple cider while you browse the shop.  (The hardest part is choosing from all the beautiful little mugs!)