More time for family - Carolina Weekly Newspapers

News
In search of Christmas cheer – and column
MOORESVILLE – Christmas is alive
and well in downtown.
Our community, known for NASCAR
and traffic jams on Brawley School
Road, rings in the holiday with events
every Friday evening through Dec. 17.
My assistant (who happens to be my
husband) and I donned our hats and
gloves and drove to Main Street on
Friday, Dec. 3. We
Columnist came in the “backdoor,”
arriving to
the festivities from
the northern end
of town. It was
a beautiful, crisp
Virginia
DarceY
December night,
most befitting of a
Christmas celebration.
Our first objective
was to secure a
good parking place,
which we did rather quickly. The location
was perfect; we were parked right
in the middle of town. With camera and
notebook in hand, downtown Mooresville
was my oyster.
As we began our first Christmas on
Main in Mooresville, two couples that
had passed us stopped quite suddenly.
They were “oohing and ahhing” over
something through a store window.
When what to my wondering eyes
should appear but three tiny puppies
Want to go?
Downtown Mooresville will continue
to host Christmas-themed activities
from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10
and Dec. 17. For a layout of participating
shops, go to http://downtown
mooresville.com.
that beckoned me there. Who doesn’t
love puppies, especially at Christmas?
I spent the first 10 minutes or so trying
to act coy, expressing interest in the
shop owner’s fabrics and design services,
and waiting for my time – my puppy
therapy.
The cuties were there with the Lake
Norman Animal Rescue, a nonprofit
trying to find homes for abandoned
pets.
Our favorite was a little guy
who was white with Australian
Shepherd coloring. Notice I
said our favorite. Incredibly
enough, my husband fell
in love. Since holding the
dog, he keeps threatening
to bring it into our family.
The other two were cute
and cuddly, too, well maybe not Fiona.
I do remember her name; she is so well,
hate to say the word, so I wont. She is
a prize – part Chihuahua, I think, with
hair that seemed to stick straight out
sort of like she stuck her paw in a light
socket. As I held “our” puppy, a young
family walked in with two young children.
Kodak moment.
OK, back on task, in search of the
perfect Friday Christmas in Mooresville
story.
I stopped to change my lens and was
greeted by two young men who were
handing out glasses to make the Christmas
lights look like stars. How excited
they were when I asked if I could take
their picture, “Wow, are you going to
make us famous? How do you want us
to stand?”
Off they went, probably talking about
their future fame.
As we got further down Main Street,
I could see the rainbow of Christmas
lights stretched across a patch of grass
next to the railroad tracks. I popped a
couple of photos and out of
the corner of my eye, I saw
him: It was Santa.
There he sat on a bench
waiting patiently for children,
old and young, to
share their wish lists. The
line was short and Santa
did his best to be a good listener
and make sure that Mom got the
perfect picture.
Across the way, 20 or so children and
adults were enjoying a wagon ride, being
pulled by two beautiful, big, strong
horses. There was a momentary delay
in the rides as one of the horses threw
a shoe (for those of you who may not
know, it is when the horse actually loses
one of its horseshoes). No electronic
glitch, no fender bender, no traffic jam.
The horse needed a new horseshoe.
My loyal assistant got cold and retreated
to the car. I continued on my
quest for the perfect story. I landed in a
store watching little girls making ornaments
with their moms.
Shawnelle Cherry moved here from
Los Angeles to open Future Fashion
Designers, a store that offers fashion
design classes for ages 8 to adult.
Tonight’s fashion would be mini-purses
decorated with shiny beads to hang
on the tree. With one last photo of the
proud ornament designers, I headed to
the car, listening to the laughter and
singing emanating from the young family
I had just watched making Christmas
ornaments.
My last image was of the store where
we began, the place with the puppies
and the beautiful window display. I put
my camera away and climbed into the
comfort of my warm car.
“Did you get enough for a story?” my
husband asked.
“I don’t know, maybe not,” I replied. q
See photos from Downtown
Mooresville’s Christmas Celebration,
page 28.
Page 12 • Mooresville Weekly • Dec. 10-16, 2010
www.mooresvilleweekly.com