‘out and about’

Calendar sheets turned to December this week, and already in Albany its beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

That will be even more the case this Friday when the annual Christmas on the Square is held in downtown Albany, kicking off events and programs that will culminate with the December 16 Christmas Village.

Friday’s Christmas on the Square events have been altered only slightly as schedules have change here and there, some events added while other features have been shortened or even removed, according to Christy N. Stearns, one of the chief organizers of the program sponsored by the Clinton County Cooperative Extension Office.

Noting that since the program was first put together this year, a girls/boys varsity double header home basketball game for Friday night has been announced, causing some of the changes in the schedule.

“We won’t have the CCHS Band with us and we will conclude activities with the tree lighting at 6:00 p.m. so that everyone can get to the game as quickly as possible,” Stearns told the Clinton County News Monday morning. “Some agencies are not going to be able to set up that we had originally anticipate, but it will be an evening full of activity.”

Stearns urged everyone coming to Albany Friday to stop by the registration tend when they get to town and take a printout of the evening’s schedule, as well as picking up tokens that will be used for voting in the Window Decorating Contest.

She noted the window voting will end at 5:45 p.m. so organizers will have time to tally the tokens and announce winners.

Stearns also noted that this year’s story walk also has a newly announced feature with a local flavor.

“We are excited that this year’s story walk will feature Alison Mason’s latest book Rudy’s Best Christmas Ever. Several pages of the book will be posted at businesses around town for the story walk and then children will have a chance to listen to the author herself finish reading the book,” Stearns said. “We have a limited number of copies to be shared with those families who complete the story walk. It will be one book per family just like the Pumpkin Walk. The story walk ends at 5:30 p.m.”

Stearns concluded by noting that another new feature this year will be the distributing of individual candles during the registration process for anyone who wants to participate, adding that she is urging everyone to be near the Christmas Tree by at least 5:50 p.m. for the scheduled 6:00 p.m. lighting of the tree.

“It will take us some time to get everyone’s candle ready just prior to the community tree lighting,” Stearns concluded.

Benny the Big Blue Elf is out and about, and on the move

Also getting underway this week, Benny the Big Blue Elf has already begun his secret appearances, and will continue to move from day to day to a new business/location.

Through December 16, Benny will be on the move with clues given daily as to his whereabouts – with the location changing every 24 hours.

The Benny activity urges participants to get out daily and find Benny, and take a picture with him.

Remember, if you find Benny, don’t touch him or he’ll lose his magic, but do grab a photo or selfie.

On December 17, you will submit all your pictures online to the Clinton County Extension Office Page and use the hashtag #BennytheBigBlueElf.

Merry Christmas, and in going along with this year’s announced theme – “There’s Snow Place Like Home.”