The Best Holiday Secret: A Hometown Christmas
By Jenna Mattox (view profile | send e-mail)

Snow has blanketed the New River Valley in December, and Southwest Virginia looks like a winter postcard with its white covered mountains. The weather added the perfect touch to the holiday season in Blacksburg, and although it’s the largest town in Virginia, Blacksburg has all the Christmas charm of a small town.

A small town holiday season is a special one and Blacksburg’s has its own magic. From downtown decorations to Santa’s annual visit, holiday reminders are apparent throughout the community.

Blacksburg resident Leigh Anne Taylor knows there is something special about a hometown holiday.

“I learned to celebrate Christmas small town style,” Taylor said. “There is nothing quite like it.”

Getting in the Spirit

Decorations, lights, Christmas plays, window displays downtown and Christmas songs on local radio stations; these are the signs of the season in Blacksburg. Nothing says Christmas more though, than Santa’s annual visit to the New River Valley Mall.

The photography staff at the mall says the jolly old man will be taking pictures with children until Christmas Eve. He will be there from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. His Santa throne is placed between two colorfully decorated train cars and he has even set out a red carpet for his visitors. This year brought a new photography staff and some interesting twists in Santa’s routine. The mall sponsored a pet night, allowing pet owners to bring in their furry friends to meet with Santa.

With all the Santa excitement, it’s easy to forget the religious aspects of Christmas. Taylor, the choir director for Blacksburg United Methodist Church, thinks the perfect reminder is a Christmas pageant.

“Our pageant this year is called a Surprising Christmas,” Taylor explains. “The surprising thing about it is that while it focuses on the biblical story it also has surprises and it jars you a little bit. It’s fun.”

For the pageant, the church will include all three of its children’s choirs and will invite the entire congregation. Part of the joy of a hometown Christmas pageant is that everyone can join in and the final outcome is a collaborative effort, Taylor points out. “I think the fun thing about it is that it’s all ages of children and lots of parents have helped with costumes and things like that,” Taylor said.

The church will also go caroling on Christmas Eve. The singing group will visit congregation members, the local hospital and local nursing homes. “I think that’s one of my favorite things about the holidays. It seems odd to walk into someone’s home and stand there and sing, but at Christmas you have the perfect excuse to do it,” Taylor said. “It’s normal somehow to walk into someone’s living room or stand on someone’s porch to sing Christmas carols during the holidays; any other time that would seem so strange.”

Specialty Shopping – A Town Exclusive

Blacksburg has an array of specialty shops that provide an alternative to busy mall shopping during the holiday season.

Karen Handel, owner of Best Wishes Flowers and Gifts, has dressed the store with intricate holiday décor in hopes of sparking Christmas spirit and putting on display some of the many items offered.

“Holidays always generate more traffic and interest,” Handel says. “Christmas kind of gets divided two ways, decorations and Christmas trees as well as gifts and floral arrangements.” Handle explains that early in the season people like to give gift baskets and decorations like wreaths while later in the holiday season gift givers lean more towards ornaments and arrangements.

Regardless of your gift needs and how early or late it is in the season, Best Wishes has plenty to offer community Christmas shoppers. “We do fresh Christmas greenery and red and white arrangements,” Handle says. “We can do lots of gift baskets. Those are also really popular, too” Most of the time the gift baskets are made up from items at the shop such as candies and chocolates, but Best Wishes offers fruit baskets and ornament gift baskets as well. Best Wishes Christmas list doesn’t stop there, though. They offer a little bit of everything. “We specialize in personal gift giving, personal decoration, office gifts, and office parties as well,” Handle says. Best Wishes is a family owned and operated shop located on Prices Fork Road.

If shoppers are looking for something different however, the most recent addition to Blacksburg’s downtown area is a great place to start. Easy Chair Book Store, located on Main Street, is only a year old, but it has caught the eye of many Blacksburg locals. The shop is a perfect place for finding a gift for everyone on your list.