Everything You Need to Know About Xmas Village | The Ogden Wire

Shane Osguthorpe: Welcome out to the Ogden wire. We are here today to talk a little bit about Christmas Village. And, are we going to include the parade in this discussion? I assume, let's talk about the electric light parade and all in there, all of it. And we are joined today by Craig Bielik. Craig, tell us a little about yourself and your relationship to all of this festivities that are coming up.

Craig Bielik: Well, I'm currently the chair of Christmas Village the committee, and I'll explain how all of that works. I've been on the Christmas village committee for about 22 years, something like that, lifelong Ogdenite. Ben Lomond boy, Weber State exactly worked here my whole life. Christmas Village is one of my earliest memories, and also going to pioneer days with my family. And so when I started working for the newspaper, I worked for the Standard Examiner for about 20 years, I decided that I would get involved, and two of my precious childhood memories,Pioneer Days and Christmas Village. And so glad to do it. And Christmas Village is a jewel. It is one of the things that everyone in Ogden can point to and say, "This is wonderful. This is unique to Ogden, and it's ours."

Shane Osguthorpe: So, yeah, we let's back this up to the 30,000 foot level. We all jumped in because we all are very familiar with Christmas Village and what it is. Why don't you tell us exactly what happens to the Municipal Block, starting the day the weekend after Thanksgiving? What? What can What is it?

Craig Bielik: Yeah, it's four square blocks that is. That is made to look like a Christmas Village, exactly what it's described. We have 70 unique cottages that we display, that people can walk around and look at and look through. We have live entertainment. We have people on the sidewalk that, you know, sing Christmas carols and things like that. And we have 896,302 lights.

Craig Bielik: In the trees. And that number changes every time I say it.

Shane Osguthorpe: Have we ever hit a million?

Craig Bielik: It's hard to know, but basically, picture four square blocks of Christmas magic,

Shane Osguthorpe Awesome. Santa Claus, of course, is there every night, I believe

Craig Bielik: Santa Claus is there. It's free to visit Santa in his castle, tell him your wishes. We have the mini Polar Express, which is a miniature train that's been in Ogden for more than 80 years, and it runs free rides around the little village. It's it's made for kids, but it's for everyone, yep, and one of the first dates I went on with my wife 45 years ago was to Christmas Village.

Shane Osguthorpe: That's awesome. So it lasts the entire month of December. Basically kicks off the Saturday after Thanksgiving is when the the it's lit, yeah, and then it's every night, basically until when?

Craig Bielik: Through New Year's Day through New Year's. So this year, it's November 29 at about 6pm through midnight of New Year's Day.

Shane Osguthorpe: So let's walk through there. We're here to talk about that opening night, because we see probably the largest crowds of the year downtown Ogden that night,

Taylor Hartman: The night that shatters the records every year.

Shane Osguthorpe: Yeah. So walk us through what happens that night with the parade and the lighting and what people can expect when they show up for this thing.

Craig Bielik: Yeah, this is November 29 so at four o'clock we have the Santa run, which is a 5k ish rush, where every participant has to be dressed like Santa Claus, although we fudg the rules lately, and we have some Grinches and some yetis and some elfs. And it's you register, you get a packet that includes the Santa Claus. Instead of water stop, there's milk and cookie stops.

Shane Osguthorpe: Awesome.

Craig Bielik: Generally, between four and 600 people participate. Lot of fun.

Taylor Hartman: It's so cool. It's so fun to see all those different Santas running down the street, isn't it? Some of them run pell mell. I've seen some Santas sprinting.

Shane Osguthorpe: Oh, yeah, legit runners come out to win that for sure, like marathon runners dressed as Santa.

Craig Bielik: Yep, there's legit people that do that.

Shane Osguthorpe: So the parade kicks off at 4pm or the center on kicks off that so that's the Santa run.

Craig Bielik: Okay, then we clear the streets, and somewhere around 5pm 5:30 we start the electric light parade.

Shane Osguthorpe: That's pretty much right, as a darkness starts to happen, right?

Craig Bielik: That is correct. That is correct. All the entries in the in the parade have to have lights on them. So even people that are riding their horses, they they light their horse with horsepower. I don't know how they do it. That's a great joke, right there for you, but, but they light it. It starts on about 22nd and Washington, and proceeds south to about 26th and Washington.

Shane Osguthorpe: And great watching spots all along the way. I know that they have announcers pretty much at every intersection all the way down. So if you want to hear the announcements about what the parade is and who the sponsor is, or whatever, I've announced that several years. So I know that part of it. Now it reaches the end, and we all know who comes last in the parade, right?

Craig Bielik: Santa Claus rides the very last. Santa's chariot comes at the very last. And then we asked the crowd to gather at the Ogden Amphitheater. There in the municipal gardens. And we have a short program where we introduce our Make A Wish child. Christmas Village has a Make A Wish child every year, and then the Make a Wish child and Santa Claus throws the switch and light the village, and then we have fireworks. So the village is open until midnight that night. And it's hard to get an estimate of the crowd. Ogden City puts it somewhere between 15 and 40,000 depending on the weather. And again, this is the the 29th of November this year. The lighting ceremony is about at 6pm depending on how quick we can get Santa down off of that that float and get him into the ampitheater.

Shane Osguthorpe: Right. And then plenty of stuff to do afterwards. Hang out on 25th Street. All the shops usually you'll stay open late, I assume, yes, Johnson bars, so little something for everything.

Craig Bielik: Yeah. I mean, it's really, it's really Christmas Village was created to bring people to downtown Ogden, okay? And it started in 1962 and I do remember it, even as a child. I remember some of the things were there. We have a lot of historical old photos, and you can find those on ogdencity.com under Christmas Village. It's just, it's magic. I'm I'm not a big Christmas guy. I like Christmas, but I'm not the guy that decorates on the day after Halloween or anything like that. But it's I go. I probably go at least 20 times a year to Christmas Village, besides my regular duties, because it's just, it's just magical. And when I talk to grown people here in Ogden, they they get very sentimental about Christmas Village. It even if, even if they haven't been for years. I'll talk to somebody and they'll say, you know, haven't been for a very long time, but I love that place, and I talk to people that just drive around it, yeah? They just circle.

Shaylee Stevens: If someone's never been to Christmas Village before, this is a completely new experience for them. Yeah, whether they come on parade night or later in the month, tell us what would you do? What would you tell them to do to make it the perfect experience so they can build that sentimental experience?

Craig Bielik: Dress warm That's one of the first things I would say. Because, you know, this is it's December, and it can be cold and that sort of thing. But I there really isn't like, there isn't a path to follow or anything like that. It's just a wander around and look 70 unique cottages. We've got one cottage that is dedicated to nutcrackers, probably 300 nutcrackers in there. We've got a cottage that is a little elf ER, where elf is getting his leg bandaged. We have very strict covenants and requirements for the cottages. So none of them look like they were thrown together at the last minute or anything like that. Some of these people go above and beyond in making their Christmas cottage really great. So 70 unique cottages, all those lights, some static displays. You know, we have a you guys, have you ever seen the Frosty the Snowman belly flop? It's an animated, animated static display. I know that's kind of but that's how it works. And then the train ride and the hot chocolate, and you're outside, you can come early, if you have small children, you know, you can be out of there by 6pm and you can come later. If you're on a date, you can come as often as you want. It's always free. Everything's free. Sit down, listen to the entertainment. Shane might be there playing. I don't know

Shaylee Stevens: Also know every year Christmas Village has a theme, and that goes with an ornament that the villages typically have inside of each cottage. Can you tell us what that theme is and what people should watch

Craig Bielik: Yeah, you're talking about our I Spy contest. So every year we have a theme. This year's theme is rocking around the village, the Christmas Village. Our ornaments look like gold and platinum records. I'll show you guys, and I can send you a link too. We have sweatshirts and those sorts of things. We have a little store where we sell things, and all the money that we raise in that store goes back into Christmas Village. So the theme is rocking around the Christmas Village. We give each of the cottages an ornament, and we ask them to put it somewhere in the cottage, and then we challenge children to go around and find them. I didn't think this was a big deal the first couple years that we did it, and then I spent a night in the park and I saw kids going, I can't find this one coming, you know, and all of that sort of thing. So you go around and you just kind of spy where they all are. And it's that's just another part of it.

Shaylee Stevens: And as an adult. Who doesn't have children, I can confirm it is also a fun activity for adults. It's fun to compete with your friends to see who can be the first one to spot the ornament in each cottage.

Shane Osguthorpe: I was just gonna say, yeah, get into the ownership because I know different businesses and sometimes families or organizations tell us how the cottages work.

Craig Bielik: Yeah, we businesses or families or just private owners put up about $2,000 to have a cottage either built or they assume one that has been that has been released, and then that's theirs. For as long as they will take care of it so cool they are transported and stored by Ogden city, they'll start get hitting the park around the first of November, and then we ask everybody to have them all taken care of, and that's a very strict requirement. And if people do not take care of their cottage, or they're just not doing a good job for a couple years in a row, we'll take it away from them.

Taylor Hartman: Is there a waiting list for cottages? Do people? 36 on the waiting list? I think they beat down the door to get one. Yeah, limited.

Craig Bielik: We are limited in both space and electrical power. It takes a tremendous amount of electricity to run Christmas Village less, far less than it used to now that we require LED lights. Yeah, I can imagine. But there's areas of the park where the electrical connections and are just not available and not not great. I have to give a huge shout out to the crew with Ogden city. They're hanging lights right now. As I came past, they're starting to hang lights. You know, was this the 20th of October, or something like that. They transport all those cottages. They are there all the time because some cottage shorts out or it gets unplugged, and they've got to keep things going smoothly on the stage for the entertainers Ogden city crew. You guys rock, rock the chasm. Okay. You are just awesome.

Taylor Hartman: So I you know this is one of the biggest times of year for people to come to 25th Street. I think that because it's such a special thing, the Christmas Village is just a very special thing for people to go on dates and families to go and get ready for the holiday season. I wonder what are ways that we can incur or what would you suggest people who are coming to Ogden and 25th Street for the first time to do. There's a lot of local shopping, I think nearby. Yeah, good for somebody to come early. Do you have recommendations on where to eat and drink after?

Craig Bielik: Boy do I we? We're one of the things that started, you know, about 15 years ago or so, was we found a lot of people riding Front Runner from destination south, yeah, coming to the Union Station. The Union Station is about four blocks away from Christmas Village, and in those four blocks, probably 15 restaurants. Good restaurants, true, mostly local owned. Okay, there are eight or nine bars that I know of. So if you're an adult without children, and you want to go to Christmas Village, then stop over for a Tom and Jerry or whatever, the bars have them hit front runner and come on home. There's plenty of parking. It does get a little tight, especially toward Christmas. But bear in mind that most people are going to spend about an hour in Christmas Village. So you know, parking is is kind of at a premium during the weekends, and say the five to 7pm hour, but you'll find a place to park. You really will. There are food vendors, food trucks, kind of along the way, there's, there's ton to do. Do I have recommendations? Of course, lifelong Ogdenite. I love LA Ferrovia and Rovallis, which is Italian food on 25th Street. Stella's Italian food on 23rd these are local, family owned businesses, okay, not chains. I'm not putting down our chain brothers, but these guys are using their family recipes. Roosters. Everybody knows Roosters. Good, good heavens. They brew premium beers. They make incredible food. There's a little shop called O town east, just a little one owned by, you know, a guy, and great food there, especially breakfast. You know, we're not open during the day, but I want to point out a couple things. Some people do come in the day because it's less crowded and it's easier for their kids to see inside the cottages. Yeah, sort of thing true, and we do offer preschool and and, oh, I'm trying to think of what the term is, but basically, daycare, we offer tours with Mrs. Santa during the day. You can sign up on our website and she takes you on a private tour. That's awesome. There are a lot of really funny things about those cottages. The we. One with a bed in it, and we found out that a person was getting in it after the park was closed and sleeping all once.

Shane Osguthorpe: Who's a different person every year. Is that announcement gonna be a formal thing, or can you tell us who the mayor of Christmas Village is?

Craig Bielik: I can't reveal that quite yet, because

Shane Osguthorpe: How does that work? Fairly prominent community member who's given a lot. Or how do you guys look for someone that has contributed to Christmas Village?

Craig Bielik: I was mayor in 22,008 we look for someone that has contributed to Christmas Village, someone that has done something. The reason I can't tell you is I don't know if this person has accepted yet, and so some people decline.

Craig Bielik: Others jump at the chance to be mayor. They also help turn the lights on and start the fireworks show. And this has happened a couple of times right before we've went to turn on the lights at Christmas Village, the Grinch has come out and pulled the plug.

Taylor Hartman: No, I bet the kids go nuts when that happens. They do.

Craig Bielik: And thanks to the magic of Christmas and the kids in the audience, they've been able to warm his heart and get him to plug it back in so it could happen this year. We're always on the lookout for him.

Taylor Hartman: Well, you talk about you talk about support, people who've supported the Christmas Village over the years. You know, there are lots of patrons who support this in a lot of different ways. But can you shout out, you've done a little bit, but shouting out sponsors or businesses that are involved with a big sort of,

Craig Bielik: Oh, so many. There just are so many. And I'm nervous about putting a list out there, because I'll forget someone. Certainly a shout out goes to Joe Packham. Joe Christmas Village was just about dead in the late 1990s Wow. It, you know, it had just suffered from a lack of enthusiasm, a lack of commitment and a lack of interest. And Joe jumped on and revitalized that place. There is a Christmas Village Advisory Committee of about 12 people that picked the theme guide all of the activities. One thing I didn't mention is the fundraising activities that we do. For instance, on the 23rd of December this year at the Ogden Egyptian theater at 10am and 5pm we have the Muppet Christmas Carol pajama party. Sing along. So you know the Muppet Christmas Carol John Taylor and everybody, yeah, everybody is everybody comes in their pajamas, we leave the house, light somewhat up, we publish a lyric book, and we encourage everyone to sing along. And they do.


Craig Bielik: Tickets are eight bucks. Okay, great. And all that goes to Christmas Village. And we sold out the 10am show last year. More than sold out, wow. So we added an evening show. We also have a breakfast with Santa. That is on the 13th of December. That is, I think, $20 a person, but you get full breakfast, full hot breakfast, and you get to have it with the man himself. Wow. VIP Santa dinner. Yeah, man himself. Beyond that, the committee has talked about a whole bunch of ideas that, I mean, we have a lot of ideas. What we need is, like the horsepower to do it. Something that might interest your folks is, I've always wanted to have like a bar rooftop for opening night for the fireworks, like maybe Hartman hound, Hartman hound, you guys, or, you know, one of those places and sell like a VIP package where you're on the roof and you watch the fire. See the parade. See the whole parade go by there too. Yeah, the Hampton Inn on the corner of 24th and Washington, offers a family package for a room so you can watch the parade in in your hotel room.

Shane Osguthorpe: I know those corner suites at the Hilton Garden Inn sell out probably at least a year in advance. Yeah. Yeah, because families will go in there and book out those, those entire corner suites that look at the whole intersection. Yeah, yeah. Well, and I would say if you've been to Christmas Village recently or way back in the past, it's always worth coming back every year, because everyone does their cottages a little different every year. Yeah? Typically, yeah. Sometimes you'll get some repeats. But it's really cool to watch the creativity of the people who do those cottages to freshen them up every year and take a different theme or a different approach, or they do incredible things they really do.

Craig Bielik: And every cottage is required to have some sort of movement in it. So we have animated little elves, you know. Or they've got spinning lights or something something. And Christmas Village really is for children, but I challenge any adult to go there and come out of there and say, you know, this isn't cool. Yeah, it's awesome.

Shaylee Stevens: It's a great way, whether you go early in the season, to get yourself in the Christmas spirit. But then, as we mentioned, it's open until New Year's so I know I personally like to go right after Christmas really keep that Christmas spirit alive. So you're right, just anyone can get joy from this.

Shane Osguthorpe: Oh, that's nice. That's nice. Well, Craig, we appreciate all that you.

Craig Bielik: I mean, that's why, that's why I'm on the committee. Yeah, there are comments like this. I got, I got four adults in the room with tears in their eyes over Christmas Village. Isn't that worth keeping

Shane Osguthorpe: It is. And you guys do wonderful work, and we appreciate everything you do. Christmas Village, November 29 through New Year's Day, yep, get down and check in to midnight. Yep, come to the parade, if not, come see Santa any other day throughout there. All right. Well, Craig, thank you very much.

Craig Bielik: Thank you guys. This is really a privilege, and I very much appreciate it. And I appreciate your support for Christmas Village right on.