At the starting point of the “Frosty the Snowman” book walk, Nolan Davis, 4, and his brother, Lucas, 1, posed for a photo with Nolan holding a copy of the book they just received from Bookie’s New and Used Book Store around the corner.
The boys did the book walk Saturday in downtown Homewood with their mother, Kristina Davis, and their aunt, Elizabeth Menig, following the adventures of Frosty in big window displays on the east and north sides of the Triumph Building. Free copies of the book were available at Bookie’s but were not required to enjoy the traditional tale.
They were among a number of families who visited downtown Homewood to enjoy the scaled-back, pandemic-safe holiday activities sponsored by the village and the Homewood Business Association.
Dave and Karen Becker of Homewood stopped at the fireplace on Martin Avenue outside Homewood Florist to regroup before resuming their shopping. They said they appreciated the village’s efforts to provide holiday experiences in a safe manner.
“I think it’s great, considering the virus is going on,” Dave said. “I think Homewood did a nice job putting things together without causing any issues regarding social distancing.”
The couple and their two children did the book walk, visited several shops and spent some time watching trains at the observation station on Harwood Avenue.
“We’re looking forward to the ice sculptures,” Karen said. Ice sculptures on display in the downtown area are expected to be available next weekend. A map showing the locations will be made available at the corner of Ridge Road and Martin Avenue, according to Homewood Events Manager Allisa Opyd.
Another draw on Saturday was the popular collectible holiday mugs that are sold each year at the two traditional community events, Holiday Lights and Miracle on Martin.
This year, the mugs were not for sale. Businesses were given 20 mugs each and could give them away to shoppers whose purchases exceeded a certain amount.
Kim Nolen, owner of Redbird Cafe, said there were customers waiting when she opened her doors.
“It was like Black Friday,” she said, referring to the day-after-Thanksgiving shopping day that often draws huge crowds to retail stores.
Dodi Wians, co-owner of Loulou Belle boutique a few doors down, said the store’s mugs were gone in 40 minutes.
About mid-day Wians said sales were going well, though not quite up to the level of Small Business Saturday the previous weekend.
“Last Saturday was amazing,” she said. “We were up from the year before, which we were not counting on.”
In fact, the success of Small Business Saturday Nov. 29 may have helped with sales on Dec. 5, according to Valerie Warnsby, owner of The Villager boutique. She said some of her customers waited a week because they feared the crowds would be too big the week before.
Several stores had staff posted at the door to manage capacity limits.
On Martin Avenue, Kyle Arrivo also noted good sales at Homewood Florist. As about half a dozen people browsed the shop’s floral and gift offerings, Arrivo said they were extending the store’s Small Business Saturday sale as a show of gratitude to customers.
“This community really supports small businesses,” she said.
The village and HBA efforts to build a semblance of holiday sparkle in spite of the pandemic seemed to help.
“It brought us downtown,” Adrian Esparza said, noting that he had taken the opportunity to visit several shops he had previously been at.
“I told him we should bring our younger girls back to do the ‘I Spy,'” said Christina Lovato. The two were strolling along Ridge Road, admiring the window decorations.
Lovato referred to another holiday activity downtown, an I Spy adventure in which a number of businesses have placed images of birds in their windows following the theme of the Homewood Science Center’s Citizen Science program that helps people study local avian life.
I Spy brochures showing which businesses are participating are available on the southwest corner of Ridge and Martin.