Chesterton welcomed in the holiday season with a bang this Saturday at the annual Duneland Chamber of Commerce Hometown Holiday Celebration and Twilight Christmas Parade, which saw people from all over the Duneland Community head on out to brave the chilly weather and not only have a great time with their families and friends, but also support local businesses on what was surely one of Chesterton’s most successful Small Business Saturday’s in recent memory.
The tree itself, a huge evergreen donated by a local family, was decorated and lit by local businesses, with Ace Hardware donating bright lights and a hand-welded custom star that topped the tree, and Shady Lawn Florists donated hand-tied red bows on many of the branches of the gorgeous tree.
Other trees in Thomas Centennial Park were lit as well after the ceremony, bathing the park in a soft warm glow that truly made it feel like the holiday season had bloomed whilst similarly lit parade floats travelled down Broadway and South Calumet Road.
Maura Durham, President of the Duneland Chamber, was humbled by the amazing display for this year’s Hometown Holiday Celebration and Twilight Christmas Parade.
“I feel like I’ve been saying this every year, but this is the largest parade that we’ve had,” exclaimed Durham. “We had 45 to 47 floats this year. I think every year, everyone steps it up to make it a little bit more holiday, a little bit more lights. Really, people just go all out.”
It was a great day for people to come out and not just enjoy the Holiday Market and parade, but also enjoy some fun time with their loved ones.
Jennifer and Dave Leeds attended the parade with their dog, Bella. “It gives people a chance to come out and talk to people they wouldn’t normally get a chance to,” said Jennifer. “Just to see the kids enjoy the wonderment of Christmas, it’s just a great time.”
Cary Knauff, a longtime German teacher at Chesterton High School, was also attending the Parade for the first time.
“I’ve wanted to come for a number of years,” explained Knauff. “I’ve never had a chance to make it, so I decided to make it up here today.”
Knauff was impressed with the amount of activities for everyone at the event.
“It seems like there’s something for everyone to do,” said Knauff. “With the [Holiday] market, and the shops that are open, the parade, the tree lighting, there are a lot of fun things for everybody.”
Small businesses were the real highlight of the parade on Saturday, with many of the floats featured representing local small businesses from all over the Duneland area.
Emerson Delaney, Town Councilman for the town of Chesterton, applauded the great efforts of the Duneland Chamber and local small businesses.
“None of this could have taken place without the Duneland Chamber of Commerce, all the small businesses that have pitched in, and volunteered their time, from the big tree down in the park, sponsoring the other trees in the park, along the street. If you look outside, there are thousands of people in our downtown, and it’s doing a wonderful thing for all of the small businesses here.”
Durham agreed with the Councilman, citing the amazing business each of the locally owned mom-and-pop shops along downtown Chesterton’s main thoroughfare was getting that evening.
“This is a way for the community to support small businesses,” explained Durham. “At the end of the day, it’s Small Business Saturday. That’s why we wanted today to have everything that it has for the community to come out.”
The evening finished off with kids being given a chance to meet Santa and tell the big man himself what they’d like for Christmas. For Duneland community families and businesses, this truly was the best way to usher in the season of giving.