The North Pole express made it's second trip into Ashley for the Village of Ashley's Country Christmas this morning.  A great time was had by all.  Please click on the North Pole Express tab for more pictures of the fun in Ashley. 

Last night was the first night of Village of Ashley's Country Christmas.  It was a wonderful evening.  Lots of excitement and it wasn't windy so it felt pretty good.  I just had one little problem.  The battery in my camera died just before the train got into town.  Today I'll take two camera's with me and get lots more pictures.  So these are just a taste of what you'll see when you come to Ashley.  The first two pictures are of Santa's workshop.  Don't you just love the fence? 

 

 

This is Beth Russell, our decorating person.  She's the one responsible for the present fence. 

 

Here's our honorary mayor Ted Schulz waiting for the train.

 

And these last two pictures are of the crowd waiting for the train.  And then my battery died.  So more pictures to come later today.  Come and join us for a wonderful time.

Christmas lights

Last night was our dress rehearsal for the North Pole Express to come to Ashley.  It was very exciting and we learned a lot so we'll be prepared for next weekend.  After the train left I wandered around town and took pictures of some of the Christmas lights.

 

Here's the platform where Santa will appear.

 

 

Here's the Village tree.

 

And of course there are lights on the 1225.

 

Tonight the Steam Railroad Institute had their big reveal party for the 1225.  It's up and running.  They went out for about an hour and didn't find any problems.  So the next time the train runs will be on Friday when they go to Ashley for the dress rehearsal for the Country Christmas.  Hope to see a lot of you there.  Feel free to come to Ashley even if you don't ride the train.

Another raffle

The Village of Ashley Country Christmas is having another raffle on Dec. 23 at the Community Center.  You do not need to be present to win.  The first prize is this beautiful oak quilt rack and the second prize is this Amish made child's rocker.  The third prize is a $100.00 gift certificate to Bellingar Parcking Co.

 

You can get tickets from Roger Keck, Stephanie Densmore, Sandy Slowinski, Erica Denman, Ellen Haynes, Lynn Schulz, Dagget's Grocery and the Ashley Bank.  They're only $2.00 each and you do not need to be present to win.

Eating.

Half the fun of visiting a festival is the eating and the Village of Ashley Country Christmas will have lots of choices.  In the Community Center there will be sloppy joes or hot dogs with chips and a drink.  Or you can visit the bakery next door and get some yummy Czech pastries, cookies or candy.  Children can buy a cookie and decorate it to take home with them.  The ice cream shop will have some peppermint ice cream, walking tacos, corn dogs, caramel corn and gourmet caramel apples.  You’ll be able to get popcorn from the Lions Club on the street.  Try some gingerbread or cupcakes at the Gingerbread House.  For a change of pace visit the Hobo Kitchen for soup and bread.  Daggets Grocery and Foote’s Party Store will also be open.  And if you really want to sit down to a traditional Christmas dinner visit Gus’ Eatery.

Volunteers

Volunteers make our day.  And on Saturday we'd like to see as many volunteers as possible.  We're going to be hanging lights, wreaths and garland.  Many hands make light work.  The first weekend of the Country Christmas is only two weeks away and we need to get this done.  Hope to see you then.

Book signing.

Did you know that there's going to be a real live author coming to the little village of Ashley? On Saturday, Nov 30th Wayne Burkhardt will be in town for a book signing. He has written a book about the 1225 steam engine called "Saga of the 1225" He will be in town that day from 10:00am until 6:00pm. Come and buy a book and have him sign it for you.
Check out his web page www.2ndlifetime.com

It is less than three weeks until we welcome the North Pole Express into Ashley.  We're getting very excited.  But we don't have to wait that long to get excited and that's because on Nov. 22 there will be a dress rehearsal complete with the 1225.  The train will come into town that night and we'll go through all thing that we'll be doing for real on Nov. 29th.  We would like to invite you to come to town that night to see the train and all of the decorations. 
It takes a lot of volunteers to put on an event like this and we're still looking for you.  If you would like to come and help us we have jobs to fill.  To volunteer just call Erica Denman and she can help you out.  989-289-0110.