Mercer Candy Cane event draws festive crowd

By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

Mercer - The first combined Candy Cane Christmas Celebration was a big success in Mercer Saturday.

In past years, the traditional Candy Cane Christmas parade was planned by a committee for a weekend separate from the annual Christmas party sponsored for area children by the Mercer Area Historical Society.

This year, Mercer chamber director Beth Wetzler said both groups created a combined committee to host the parade and party on the same day, making it convenient for families to enjoy all of the offerings in a single weekend.

Decent temperatures close to 20 degrees also made for a happy crowd, who gathered to watch as several floats, vehicles and walkers made their way down the main street.

Leading the charge were law enforcement officials and service officials accompanying Commander Bob Davis of the Mercer Area VFW Post 9536.

In a nod to the snowy locale, a well-costumed Grinch slipped in and out of a utility task vehicle equipped with bulldozer tracks. This Grinch, who was one of several, had made peace with redemption and was tossing candy to grateful kids.

The Grinch rig from Eunica's Beaver Lodge in Mercer won this year's prize in the parade's business division.

The prize for the individual entry went to a float with an outhouse titled "Santa's Real Workshop." It featured Santa sitting in an outhouse, waving to the crowd.

Troy Jastromski, who owns a cabin on Weber Lake, offered the float with the help of partners Ed Cormier, Dave Hochstein, Jim Mielke and Jerry Urban. The guys, who were all vacationing here from Madison, Wis., dressed for the role, with one of them sporting a Santa costume and others wearing a wild collection of apple green or orange jackets, a red and white vest, and comical holiday hats.

Finally, the parade's nonprofit prize went to Mercer school students for a "Candy Cane Court" float pulled by a small John Deere tractor. The student float featured real greenery from Christmas trees and a hem of boughs, plus decorations anchored by huge candy canes.

Other notable entries included a donkey with a red blanket; the Mercer Cross-Country Ski Club, whose float included members cradling darling dogs; and the Faith Lutheran Church, which offered warm smiles and a colorfully lit manger scene that stayed on display afterward in front of the Mercer Community Center.

Members of the Mercer Area Sno-Goers also traveled on an imposing snow-clearing vehicle that included signs stating "Thank You Land Owners" and a reminder of the "100 percent volunteer" status of the snowmobile club.

At the community center, winning entries of the bakery contest were on display with corresponding certificates. Candy winners were Debbie Groeler, adult, and Piper Lindquist, youth. Adult bar winner was Karen Watts, and adult cookie winner was Christi Van Winkle. Mercer School Group No. 3 took the youth division prize in both cookies and bars.

Sharon Drawz was in charge of the baking contest, and Betty Snyder organized the parade.

Additional bakery was supplied by members of the Mercer Lioness Club, and the Mercer Loons provided toys and treats for Santa and Mrs. Claus to share with visiting children, which included a little Grinch.

The party, which included the distribution of many raffle items, was rife with sequins, bells, red velvet bows, reindeer antlers, Santa hats, and lots of red and green costumes. Oversized greeting cards, red and white-striped tablecloths, red tinsel garlands, and candy canes completed the festive atmosphere.

In addition to the party, a European-style market took place behind the Pines restaurant in Mercer. It featured a large tent, many individual vender booths, a welcome bonfire, and live music by the band Badge.

Venders such as Dawn Pelkowski, Heidi and Kurt Meyer, Anna Kemp and many others were seeing a brisk flow of shoppers.

Adding to the ambiance of the season were main street decorations, beautiful store window displays, and Christmas trees and wreaths stacked for sale.