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News & Features
From the Idyllwild Town Crier weekly newspaper, 11.19.09 edition.
Idyllwild’s Thanksgiving weekend
By Beth Nottley, News Assistant
Being in
Idyllwild for Thanksgiving offers the chance to experience the joy of
the start of the holiday season in a quaint and picturesque mountain
village. The air is crisp and clear. Late autumn colors are displayed
on the trees and ground. Local merchants have begun decorating their
shops with lights, making the town look charmingly festive.
Last Friday, we saw our first snow in the high country and Tahquitz
rock stood pristine white against a blue sky laced with moody gray
clouds. It’s a perfect place to celebrate Thanksgiving and reflect on
the beauty of this community and the surrounding natural environment.
Thanksgiving weekend on the Hill features three big annual Idyllwild
events, the Rotary Club’s Harvest Festival, the Christmas Tree Lighting
ceremony sponsored by the Soroptimist Club of Idyllwild and the free
Thanksgiving potluck dinner put on by the American Legion Post 800.
The Legion’s Thanksgiving dinner will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday,
Nov. 26. The Legion provides turkey and other dishes. Guests are
welcome to bring a favorite dish to share. The meal is free and
everyone is welcome.
Several local restaurants will be serving traditional Thanksgiving
dinner. Restaurant Gastrognome will serve Thanksgiving dinner from 1 to
7 p.m. Call 659-5055 for reservations. The Bread Basket will serve a
five-course meal with an entrée choice of either roast turkey or
salmon in vanilla sauce from 1 to 6 p.m. They will also be serving
their regular breakfast menu starting at 8 a.m. Call 659-3506 for
reservations. Good Times Pub & Grill will serve a traditional
turkey dinner complete with homemade pie, along with their regular
dinner menu, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. They will also serve their regular
breakfast menu starting at 9 a.m. No reservations are required. Call
659-5222. In addition to traditional turkey dinner, Nature’s Wisdom
will offer roast goose with organic sweet and sour cabbage dinner from
11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dessert choices will include an organic apple-pumpkin
struedel. Reservations are needed for these specials, but not for
regular menu selections such that include vegetarian dishes. Call
659-4300.
Other restaurants open on Thanksgiving with their regular menu only are
Arriba Mexican Restaurant from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; the Red Kettle serving
breakfast from 6:30 to 11 a.m.; and Mile High Café serving
breakfast and lunch from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Higher Grounds coffee
house will be open for coffee, tea, cider and light fare.
Thanksgiving does not end after the last football game Thursday. On
Friday and Saturday, visitors and residents can attend the 43rd-annual
Harvest Festival and Kathy Duncan, Rotarian and co-chair of the event,
says that this year’s festival will continue “the old tradition with a
new look.”
Duncan and Dawn Miller, Rotarian, co-chair and Idyllwild’s former
postmaster, have spent months organizing the event and selling tickets
for the 23 raffle baskets stuffed with prizes donated mainly by local
businesses and individuals. “They are spectacular if I do say so
myself; each basket is valued between $300-$700,” enthused Miller.
Several of the baskets include stays at Idyllwild inns and meals at
some of the town’s finest restaurants. One is stuffed with children’s
games, toys and books. Another is full of fine wines and elegant
snacks. There is a basket for book lovers and another for pet owners
and on and on. Raffle ticket buyers choose the basket(s) to hope for.
The gift baskets will be raffled off at 3 p.m. Saturday.
There will be 30 booths at the festival this year, with returning and
new vendors selling a wide variety of unique handmade goods of crafts,
jewelry, clothing, gourds, specialty food products, custom baskets,
holiday decorations and more. Duncan said that items for sale are
offered at a wide range of prices with lots of bargains to be had.
New at this year’s Harvest Festival is a booth featuring local writers
and their books. Among the authors will be Idyllwild Area
Historical Society docent and researcher Bob Smith who will signing his
recently published “Idyllwild and the San Jacintos.” Also, Col. Bo
Bottomly, a well-known storyteller, will showcase his many war stories
and tales of the Old West.
The 43rd-annual Harvest Festival will take place at Town Hall on Cedar
Street from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 27 and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 28. Admission is free.
A gift-wrapping service for items bought at the Harvest Festival, or at
any shop in town (many shops will stay open late throughout the
weekend), is available for a donation made to Animal Rescue Friends
(ARF) in the Village Lane on North Circle Drive. During the
Thanksgiving weekend and throughout the holiday season, Village Lane
management is letting ARF volunteers use an empty shop to do gift
wrapping as a fund-raiser.
On Saturday, the Tree Lighting ceremony begins at 4 p.m. It will be
preceded by fun for the kids at the Village Centre shopping center
where Santa, Mrs. Claus and an elf will be on hand from 1 to 3 p.m. to
hear Christmas wish lists and pose for photos. Martha Pearson and the
staff of the Red Kettle are hosting a cookie-decorating table. Each
child will receive a home-baked cookie and an individual frosting kit.
Across the street, there will be information booths featuring members
of various community groups such as the Idyllwild Quilters, the
Soroptimists and the Association of Realtors. Some will offer beverages
and other goodies.
Milling about the downtown area will be Doug Austin portraying Charles
Dickens and many other members of Austin’s Olde English Theatre troupe
dressed in Victorian clothing and spreading good cheer throughout the
crowd.
At 4 p.m., all eyes will turn to the town’s Christmas Tree when it is
lit up. Then, Doug Austin will recite “The Night Before Christmas” and
Diane Riggi of the Idyllwild Master Chorale will lead both adult and
children’s choirs in singing Christmas carols. Song sheets will be
distributed so that the audience can join in.
For other events throughout the Thanksgiving weekend, check the Arts
and Entertainment calendar in this newspaper and online at
www.towncrier.com. A listing of local lodging may also be found in both
places.
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