Tag: christmas

The Fredericktown Christmas Walk Online Auction is now Underway!

If you’ve spent any time around Fredericktown during the holidays, you’ve probably heard the name Ann Trudell—and for good reason. She’s responsible for the Fredericktown Annual Christmas Walk Online Auction, which is currently in full swing and runs through December 3rd and recently spoke with WNZR’s Marcy Rinehart.

Click HERE to hear the full conversation!

Ann is also the one coordinating donations, which can be dropped off at the Fredericktown administration building between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. through Tuesday. This year’s auction features an impressive lineup of themed baskets packed with gift certificates, local services, and all kinds of surprises. Ann happily shares what’s inside and how everyone can get involved.

She also breaks down how the bidding works, how to check if you’ve won, and when winners can pick up their items. One of the best parts? All the money raised stays right here in Fredericktown, supporting community members who need a little extra help. It’s a fun, festive way to give back.

This year’s Christmas Walk theme is “Country Christmas,” and Ann gives a sneak peek at the events planned along the route. She’s especially excited to meet the auction winners—and she may have mentioned she’s looking forward to the food auction, too.

Ann also reflects on what being involved in the Christmas Walk means to her personally. She shares where everything will be located, the best places to park, and how to stay connected with all things Fredericktown throughout the season. And when asked what’s on her own Christmas list? In true Ann fashion: world peace, plus plenty of time with family and friends.

Click HERE to view all the items listed for Fredericktown Christmas Walk Online Auction!

0

“Once Upon a Holiday” Brings a Fairytale Winter to Downtown Mount Vernon

Downtown Mount Vernon is getting ready to sparkle—fairytale style. Lacey Filkins, Executive Director for Experience Mount Vernon, recently sat down with WNZR’s Marcy Rinehart to share everything we can expect from this year’s Winter in Downtown theme: “Once Upon a Holiday.” Think whimsical storefronts, magical parade floats, and that cozy, storybook feeling that only small-town holidays can deliver.

Click HERE to hear the full conversation!

Small Business Saturday: Shop Local, Find Treasures

The celebration kicks off with Small Business Saturday, which Lacey describes as part shopping event, part treasure hunt. The goal is simple: support the heart of Mount Vernon—our small businesses and local shop owners. Many stores downtown will be open and offering surprises throughout the weekend.

Sunday’s Holiday Parade & Downtown Festivities

Sunday’s schedule is packed with charm and activity.

  • The Holiday Parade begins at 4 PM, running north and ending at Public Square.
  • With 52 entries—including floats, trucks, and of course, horses—it’s shaping up to be one of the biggest parades yet.
  • Parade judges will be out selecting winners for several award categories, each supported by local sponsors.

For safety, visitors are asked not to park downtown due to the number of horses, vehicles, and people involved. The best viewing spots? South Main Street and around the Square.

Free Photo Booth Fun

From 1–6:30 PM, stop by the lower level of the Mount Vernon Grand for a free photo booth experience—complete with themed props provided by community sponsors. It’s a great chance to capture those holiday memories with friends and family.

Lighting of Public Square & Santa Sightings

Immediately after the parade—around 5 PM—the community will gather for the lighting of Public Square. Santa himself will help flip the switch to kick off the season.

You can also snag free photos with Santa:

  • Sunday, after the lighting ceremony until 7 PM
  • Wednesday, December 10, from 5:30–7 PM, both at the Mount Vernon Grand

If you’d like to give back, you can bring Food for the Hungry donations to designated collection points downtown. FFTH will also be represented with a parade float.

Festival of Lights Returns

Another much-loved tradition is back: the Festival of Lights.

  • Registration to participate is open until December 8.
  • Community voting happens December 12–14.
  • You can vote and view the full map of participating homes and displays at: experiencemv.org/2025-festival-of-lights.

Lacey also explained a few voting guidelines to keep things fair and fun for everyone.

Rain Plan

If Sunday’s parade gets rained out, it will be rescheduled to the following weekend. However, the lighting ceremony will still take place Sunday night, rain or shine.

A Look Ahead

Before wrapping up, Lacey shared gratitude for Experience Mount Vernon’s partners and team members whose work makes all these events possible. She also hinted at big things coming in 2026, including First Fridays and celebrations tied to America’s 250th birthday.

To stay connected, follow Experience Mount Vernon on social media or visit their website for updates, volunteer opportunities, and event announcements.

This season, Mount Vernon isn’t just celebrating the holidays—it’s stepping right into a storybook. And you’re invited to be part of every chapter.

Click HERE to learn more about Winter in Downtown!

0

Mariya Tatarin talks to WNZR about Operation Christmas Child

Mariya Tatarin is from Ukraine and received a shoebox at the age of 10 and she talks about how she felt from this, the box had hygiene items, school supplies and toys.

Click HERE to hear the full conversation!

Mariya talks about her favorite toy when she got her shoebox growing up as well as some of her story when she grew up and the massive impact receiving the shoebox made on her life. She also talks about the book she received “the greatest story ever told” and she ended up gifting that book to her neighbors and it helped share the gospel to them.

Mariya shares more of her story and because of the shoebox, the kids around her saw that God knew who needed that shoebox and how people all over the world who do his work.

She talks about how she moved to America due to religious persecution and the how the process took a long time. Now she travels to Churches, schools and communities to share her story and get to be a real person to see the impact of Operation Christmas Child. Mariya shares how you can pray for the people of Ukraine struggling with the war, she says to pray for God to intervene and bring and end to the war.

Mariya shares a message for people packing shoeboxes, she’s very grateful and thankful for people taking their time to help pack shoeboxes; so many people who receive the shoeboxes have never even heard of the gospel and it makes a huge impact on the lives of kids. She says 11.5 million shoeboxes are packed each year and she talks about how important it is to see the people who sent the shoebox. She still keeps the picture of the family who packed the shoebox for her in her bible in hopes of meeting them.

She talks about why you should take the step to help support Operation Christmas Child and shares a message to people who haven’t ever packed one before. Its intimidating at first, but Mariya says to just start with the basics and you’ll start coming up with new things to put into your box. It makes an impact and it makes a difference.

Mariya Tatarin is sharing her story this Friday at 7pm at Gilead Friends Church, and she talks about how you can pray for her and how she wants God to speak through her to the people listening. Pray for Operation Christmas Child to have all their volunteer needs filled with people trying to share God’s love and good news.

Click HERE to learn about Operation Christmas Child.

0

A Christmas Carol is coming to the Knox Memorial

The holiday season is here!
Don’t miss your chance to see A Christmas Carol at the Knox Memorial.
Join the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future as they lead the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey of transformation and redemption. Join the Knox Memorial with the Mount Vernon Arts Consortium and Habitat for Humanity Knox County for this beloved family classic live on stage!

WNZR was honored to chat with several members of the team:

  • Ian Ernsberger, Director
  • Aaron Moreland, Ebeneezer Scrooge
  • Jillian Snow, Ghost of Christmas Past

Click HERE to enjoy the conversation or click on the link below.
Get your tickets to see this Christmas Classic this weekend!

A Christmas Carol is presented by the Knox Memorial.
Produced by Mount Vernon Arts Consortium.
Shows:
November 29th @ 7:30 P.M.
November 30th @ 7:30 P.M.
December 1st @ 1:00 P.M.

VENUE: Knox Memorial Theater
(112 E. High St, Mount Vernon, OH 43050)

TICKETS: $20
Click HERE for tickets.

0

Winter in Downtown Mount Vernon is coming this weekend

Lacey Filkins, Executive Director Experience Mount Vernon stopped by WNZR to give us a highlight of Winter in Downtown Mount Vernon.
Click HERE to hear the full conversation or click on the link below.

Lacey talked about this year’s theme – A Vintage Holiday Celebration.
She highlighted the exciting schedule:
Saturday 11/30 – Shop Small Saturday
Sunday 12/1:
3:45pm – Annual Holiday Parade
4:15pm – Festive Family Fun
5:00pm – Lighting of the Public Square
5:30pm – 7:00pm – Pictures with Santa at the Mount Vernon Grand Hotel

Lacey shared about the parade route and the best place to be seated. There are 60 different floats signed up for this year! There are 10 different awards including Best Overall, Judges Choice and Best Youth (sponsored by WNZR/MVNU). The parade is a Food For The Hungry collection point. FFTH will push carts in the parade so that people can donate while they walk through downtown. If there is rain, the parade is rescheduled for Sunday, December 8th at the same time and location.

Lacey talks about the Festive Family Fun. After the parade the public square will be filled with the Dogwood Blossoms singing carols. There will be ornament craft tables, letters to Santa, three different food trucks and a holiday market.

The lighting of the public square will take place when it gets dark. Santa and Mayor Star will be there. Santa is in the lower lobby of the Grand Hotel at 5:30-7:00pm. Pictures with Santa are free!

Lacey also talks about the Festival of Lights. This is the 5th annual Festival of Lights. You can register your display until December 9th on the Experience Mount Vernon website. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScksKY80Qo8FnzLeeEp9BbkAEaXPGRSvN830GMtkzjOHTl43A/viewform

The event starts at 6:00pm on December 14th. They have four different categories. Best Storefront, Best Classic White Light Display, Best Vintage Inspired and Best Light Up the City Display.

The public is invited to vote as well as the assigned judges. The 14th, 15th and 16th are the voting dates.

The winners will be announced on the Experience Mount Vernon Facebook page on the 17th by 5pm. Winners will also be emailed directly.

Lacey wants to thank Park National Bank, Burrata Woodfired, Knox Community Hospital, Dumbaugh Insurance, Shelter Insurance, Ariel Corporation for their sponsorship. She would also like to thank the City Streets Department and MVPD for coordinating the parade. Lacey would like to thank their volunteers and for Santa.

Lacey would like to thank True Cut Landscaping and for volunteers for hanging the lights and ornaments in the square.

Lacey talks about future events that Experience Mount Vernon is planning for 2025. They are already planning their First Fridays. July First Friday will take place on a Thursday in 2025 to plan around July 4th weekend.

You can signup to the Experience Mount Vernon newsletter to keep up to date on all Experience Mount Vernon events. They also post updates on their website and Facebook page. https://www.experiencemv.org/

0

How to Lessen the Christmas Stress

We’re less than a week out from Christmas! How’s your to-do list looking? Do you have gifts still to buy? To wrap? Any party planning to do? Cleaning the house? Preparing for visiting relatives? How about cookie baking?

It always seems that the closer we get to the big day, the more the stress rises. We might admit verbally that Jesus is the reason for the season, but instead of being like Mary and focusing on Him, we are like Martha and worry about the preparations and details and task lists and on and on and on and on.

It’s exhausting.

And it’s not how this time of the year should be, either. This is a celebration of God’s redemptive story, of the greatest gift the world has seen. We are celebrating the arrival of the Prince of Peace. How can we truly do that without feeling his peace?

There are several things you can do this week to lessen the effects of stress as Christmas draws near. You can find the entire list we shared on the show HERE. First, and above all else, be sure to not just acknowledge Jesus with your words this season, but truly spend time with Him every day. Invite the Prince of Peace into your life and let Him work His wonders.

Merry Christmas!

0

Keeping Christ in Christmas

Today we shared some ways to keep Christ at the center of your Christmas. We should always remember the reason we celebrate to begin with. Thanks to iMOM and FamilyLife for their wonderful articles.

Here are some ways that we loved!

  • Having a child friendly nativity scene
  • Share how God has made an impact in your life
  • Read the real Christmas story
  • Give only three gifts

Click HERE to read more from imom and HERE for more from familylife!

0

Food this Christmas

Today we talked about food for the holidays. First we talked about “Traditional Christmas Food From Around the World”. It is so interesting to see the different traditions that others have. Some of these things may look like something you would try and others not so much.

  • Bacalao, the Traditional Mexican Christmas Food
  • The Traditional Christmas Food in Germany: Christmas Goose
  • A Traditionally American Christmas Dessert: Fruitcake
  • The Surprising Japanese Christmas Tradition: Fried Chicken

To read more and to see pictures of these meals click HERE.

We also talked about some pantry-friendly dinners for the family around the holidays. Thank you to All Recipes for this article! Here are some of our favorites…

  • Simple Beef Stroganoff
  • Skillet Lasagna
  • Pita Pizza
  • Easy Chicken Noodle Casserole

to see all 30 recipes click HERE.

0

The WNZR Staff shares their favorite Christmas Songs

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Marcy Rinehart – Labor Of Love by Jill Phillips with Andrew Peterson

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Joe Rinehart – How Many Kings by Downhere

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Wesley Boston – Silent Night by Sanctus Real

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Catherine Haws – Hey Moon by Sidewalk Prophets

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Alyssa Sidle – Baby Boy by for King & Country

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Kelsi Brake – Welcome to Our World by Chris Rice

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Mackenzie Holder – Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer by Francesca Battistelli

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Dylan Elliott – Christmas Eve Sarajevo by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Jonathon Langdon – Christmas Eve Sarajevo by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Zoe Bricker – What A Glorious Night by Sidewalk Prophets

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Ricky Geyer – You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch by Newsong

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Grant Hauger – Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Allison Prouty – White Christmas by Bing Crosby

Staff Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 Daniel Skrzypchak – Little Saint Nick by The Beach Boys

0

Traditions to do with the Family!

This morning we talked about some traditions that can be adopted into your family this year! Christmas is a time to bring your family together and it’s just around the corner! Thank you to Six Sisters’ Stuff for this wonderful article.

Here are some traditions you can start this year!

  • Have a cookie exchange party
  • Go Christmas caroling
  • The Giving tree
  • Check out local light displays

To see more click HERE for “25 Family Christmas Traditions”.

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑