Light Up Vermilion postponed a week due to forecast

VERMILION — With heavy rain in the forecast for tonight, organizers announced the annual Light Up Vermilion event would be postponed a week. The event will be now be held 5-9 p.m. Dec. 8. The Vermilion Community Band Christmas Concert will still go on as planned at 7 p.m. today at the Ritter Public Library at 5680 Liberty Ave. as that is an indoor venue, said Kate Repola, executive director of Main Street Vermilion. Main Street Vermilion organizes Light Up Vermilion's slate of activities and helps to promote the concert for Ritter. Light Up Vermilion is an entire evening designed to kick off the holiday season with an old-fashioned, small-town festive feel, inviting visitors to downtown Vermilion for a host of activities. Repola said visitors are invited to stop by Main Street's office at 685 Main St. to get started, picking up free cookies and a "goodie bag" to direct their evening activities, including a scavenger hunt of clues to find around the downtown shopping district and a ballot to choose their favorite holiday window display as they make their way to Exchange Park. There, at Liberty and Main streets, Santa himself is set to arrive at 6 p.m. to help Mayor Jim Forthofer light the community Christmas tree at 6:15 p.m. There will be alpacas for petting and photos and carolers. The Vermilion Kiwanis will be on hand to give out treats to kids and the Vermilion Rotary Club will be passing out roasted chestnuts, Repola said. Santa also gives out small gifts to children, she said. At nearby Friendship Park there is a lighted selfie station for guests to take commemorative photos and across the street at the Fulper Lot the city's newest installation, a towering Christmas tree made entirely of buoys. The 11-foot tree was inspired by oceanside communities with similar installations along the East Coast, and started as a fundraiser for Public Art Vermilion in July. The committee ordered 250 buoys from Massachusetts and launched the project, selling them to individuals, businesses or organizations to decorate — or have local artists finish — and place them on the tree after weatherproofing. The buoy tree is a nod to the city's history as a fishing village and a home of captains and shipbuilders. The tree will stay up until the city's Ice A Fair on Feb. 3. Twenty artists from the Vermilion Arts Guild whose buoys are featured in the window at Erie and Anchor will be auctioned at that time, with the proceeds to benefit PAV. All other buoys will be returned to the participants. "Our small town on a great lake sparkles on the holiday. It was a hard decision but the committee was really worried about the rain and they worked really hard to pivot and change the date at the last minute and hope it works out for the best," Repola said. "All the shops will be open late and it's just a nice night to encourage people to come out and enjoy an old-fashioned Christmas with friends and family and neighbors." Contact Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.