Jan 31, 2024 By Paul Paterra 3 min read

The holiday season will look a little different in Washington this year.

The city’s holiday events – Small Business Saturday, Light-Up Night, the Holiday Market and annual Christmas Parade – will be held on the same day this year, on Nov. 30.

Shana Brown, Main Street Manager for the Washington Business District Authority, told council at its meeting Monday of plans for a Home for the Holidays extravaganza.

“This year, we’ve decided we’re doing a humongous event nicknamed Home for the Holidays,” Brown said. “It will be the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is traditionally our Small Business Saturday, one of our biggest events. We always have great attendance for that. That was also the day of our Light-Up Night. It went so incredibly well that we are moving everything and doing one big event.

“We really just want to expand the event and in order to expand it, we’re pulling all of our resources together. It just made sense instead of stretching everybody so thin and stretching all of our resources thin and dragging everybody out for two weekends, we really just want to do it right. I think making it one event is going to have a wider reach and make more of an impact.”

Brown said a new committee was formed for Home for the Holidays and already has been meeting and brainstorming.

“You really can expect some great things this year for Christmas,” she said.

Brown also told council that about six new businesses could be opening in the city over the next few months. Among them are Pretzels Plus, the Cutting Board, Opening Night Costumes and Bones Distillery, along with a bakery specializing in cupcakes and a spa wellness facility.

“We have a ton of new businesses,” Brown said. “I’ve been working constantly with new ones and showing the spaces. I’ve just been a little overwhelmed with the interest.”

She also said the BDA has been working more closely with Washington & Jefferson College and introduced Riley Carter from the college, with whom she will be working to engage students in downtown activities.

“We have a lot of initiatives planned,” Brown said. “There’s going to be amazing things on the horizon.”

Also Monday, Fern Sibert said bottle caps to be repurposed for eco-friendly park benches and picnic tables will be cleaned from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Fourth Presbyterian Church. Anyone interested in helping is invited to come.

“We would love for anybody to come out and see the process we go through with these bottle caps,” she said. “Even if you can only come for 20 minutes, you will learn a lot.”