Home for the Holidays annual open house begins Nov. 21
Warwick. Downtown merchants report they are fully stocked for the season.
| 02 Nov 2021 | 11:23
Home for the Holidays co-Cchairs from left, Corrine Iurato and Mary Beth Schlichting with a traditional Home for the Holidays Poster. Photo by Roger Gavan.
It’s that time of year and once again everyone is invited to come on down.
The kick-off for the annual celebration of Home for the Holidays is Sunday, Nov. 21, in the Village of Warwick.
From noon until 5 p.m. visitors will find most downtown shops decorated for the season and offering “open house” events with free refreshments and special offers.
And to get everyone in the holiday spirit, there will be various fun events throughout the downtown area including music and song.
The Warwick Valley Chorale will again be strolling the streets singing traditional Christmas carols. There will also be free horse and buggy rides traveling through the village.
‘Mom and Pop (stores) are the lifeblood of this economy’
Home for the Holidays, which traditionally begins just before Thanksgiving and ends after Christmas, is an annual celebration designed to present downtown Warwick as a fun and convenient place to do all your holiday shopping. And the Warwick merchants want everyone to know that they offer convenience, quality merchandise, special sales, friendly personalized service including gift-wrapping and, in most cases a “wish” list to make things easier for gift-givers.
Tim Mullally, co-owner of Style Counsel fashion shop, reported that unlike the severe shortages predicted for this Christmas, downtown Warwick merchants are fully stocked and shopping local is a go.
“The pendulum has definitely swung in our favor away from big box stores and mall shopping,” he said. “There is even a term now that the department stores are using called ‘boutiqueing’ where they try to re-create the look of small independent shops within their stores. Mom and Pops are the lifeblood of this economy.”
Throughout the celebration other local organizations will be joining in to play music, sell refreshments, and bring holiday cheer to downtown Warwick.
Free horse and buggy rides
Weather permitting there will be free horse and buggy rides on Nov. 21 and then on weekends in December until Christmas.
The rides will depart from Railroad Avenue just outside Railroad Green from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. And Santa will also be coming to Railroad Green to pose with children and take their orders.
For additional information about this call co-Chairs Mary Beth Schlichting at 988-5080 or Corrine Iurato at 986-9463.