Hey y’all!
Can you believe it’s already November? We’re countin’ down to the holidays, and no holiday season in Forsyth is complete without certain events that have become tradition ‘round here! To tell us all about Forsyth’s annual holiday lineup, Ms. Takeimia Childs (better known as Ms. Kemie!) joined Ms. Gilda Stanbery on a recent episode of Monroe Today.
Ms. Kemie works for the City of Forsyth as the Downtown Development Director and Main Street Coordinator. If you see somethin’ going on downtown, it’s likely Ms. Kemie has her hand in it! From working with new business prospects and supporting existing businesses in Forsyth’s downtown district, to keepin’ the square spruced up and lookin’ festive for every season, “Downtown is my baby!” as Ms. Kemie likes to say.
That also means all of the events takin’ place on the square throughout the year! While not every event is fully organized by Ms. Kemie, if it takes place downtown she does have a part in it—somehow, some way. That bein’ said, Ms. Kemie has a full lineup of Main Street hosted events each year, and we are right in the midst of some of the best of the best!
We just concluded the annual Scarecrow Showcase, which is a decorating contest that the whole community looks forward to. Participating businesses pick a theme and install their scarecrow masterpiece around the historic courthouse square for all to see and vote on.
“This was one of our biggest years,” shared Ms. Kemie. “We had 38 entries and they had a plethora of different types. They were really creative this year!”
If you missed seein’ them in person, be sure to check out this year’s contestants and winners on the Forsyth Main Street social pages!
Next on the calendar is Forsyth’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting, kickin’ off the holiday season! It never feels like Christmas until the tree is lit on the square, and I know I’m not the only one who feels that way! On Saturday, November 21 at 6 PM, we will all join Santa downtown and sing along as Forsyth lights up the city.
“We have our Cloverbuds, the littles from the 4H program, come up and help Santa light the tree,” Ms. Kemie described. “He always comes in on a firetruck and greets all the kids, then we light the tree and they can take pictures with Santa!”
The tree lighting is a week earlier this year, and that’s because the Saturday after Thanksgiving (it’s traditional day on the calendar) is Small Business Saturday!
“We were trying to not close the streets down on that Saturday to take away from our businesses being able to get customers in. We want to make sure we are always supporting our downtown businesses!”
On Shop Small Saturday, which falls on November 28 this year, Forsyth’s downtown merchants will have all sorts of specials goin’ on. They’ll of course be previewing their holiday items throughout the whole month of November leadin’ up to the event—
“They’ll be doing little features, showing off the different things that they have for the holiday season. Because a lot of people, they shop long before Small Business Saturday. So you want to make sure they know what’s coming or what’s already there so they can take advantage of specials that they have before Small Business Saturday.”
And the restaurants are gettin’ involved, too!
“We’re trying to get a lot of our restaurants to partner up with the retail because, where we have been retail heavy in the past, we’re more restaurant and bar heavy now. So we’re trying to capture the people that are coming downtown to go to the restaurants. With the restaurants and shops partnering up, if you go to the restaurant, you can take your receipt to one of the retailers and get like 10% off or something like that to kind of push people from the restaurants to the retailers, or from the retailers to the restaurants,” explained Ms. Kemie.
If you need a list, you can find all of Forsyth’s shops on our Shopping page, and restaurants on our Food & Drink page!
As we enter December, a pair of events near and dear to Ms. Kemie’s heart appears on the calendar: Jingle N Mingle and Shop with a City Hero.
“That’s my favorite thing. Like it’s literally my favorite thing that I do of all the things I do for Main Street. And I love everything I do, but that’s my favorite because, you know, being of service, coming from a service family…giving back is always my passion.”
I challenge anyone to keep a dry eye as you hear Ms. Kemie tellin’ Ms. Gilda about these two heartwarming events. You see, Jingle N Mingle is a community event that serves as a fundraiser for the more private Shop with a City Hero event. And what is Shop with a City Hero?
“Every year, we take kids from our local schools shopping for Christmas. Last year, we raised enough to take 21 kids shopping and they each had a budget of $350. I set my goal higher and higher each year. My first year, I think I had 14 kids.”
Ms. Kemie partners with various local organizations to help identify which kids in the community most need help this time of year getting somethin’ special at Christmas. She shares a master list of families with kids in need with the counselors of Monroe County Schools, the DFACS office, and the Care Cottage. Sometimes the parents have reached out to a counselor sayin’ they need help, or they may have applied on Ms. Kemie’s own website, ForsythMainStreet.net, or through another program. Through the shared list, each organization is able to ensure funds and support go further and help the most people, with each program steppin’ up to support different names on the list. If they are getting help from the school system, for example, they wouldn’t come to Ms. Kemie for Shop with a City Hero.
“The schools know better than I who needs help. […] And you know, we have had some [families] that we’ve extended the invitation to, and they didn’t really want to accept because they don’t want people to know that they need help, and that’s okay. But the kids always enjoy the time and it’s one of my favorite things.”
After Ms. Kemie knows how many kids she can support from the funds raised at Jingle N Mingle, she and her program partners go through the master list and divide support amongst their organizations.
“I mainly focus on middle school and high school kids,” Ms. Kemie shared, “because they get to go and do their own shopping. Most of the time when people get the smaller kids, they go out and buy them dolls and coloring books and stuff. Bigger kids, they want electronics and stuff like that. So I like to take the bigger kids shopping so they can really get the things they want for Christmas.”
On the actual day of the shopping trip, Ms. Kemie brings a host of people from the city—people from the fire department, electrical department, public works, city hall staff—to pair off and take the kids shoppin’.
“I make the parents stay in the front of the store with me so they don’t influence them in any kind of way. I give the kids a little notepad to make a wish list, and they get to go and they shop and they have their calculator to keep up with what they’re spending. They get to talk to the officers and the firefighters and kind of get to know them and a lot of them bond. One year, this kid really wanted an Xbox and he had $350 and I think the Xbox and a game was like right at $350. The firefighter who shopped with him went back with his own money and bought him two games himself. So they build these connections; it’s so sweet.
“The kids are so appreciative. Every year, I just love it more and more because the kids love it. I’ve had grandparents and parents that are in tears, like, ‘Thank you so much. I just didn’t know how I was going to do Christmas for all four of my kids, but you just took two of them shopping.’ And I’ve had people walk up to the cash register and ask, ‘Do you got more kids? I’ll help you with this kid.’ And I’ve had people just walk up to me and say, ‘Here’s a donation. Help another kid.’ Last year, I personally took two kids shopping after it was over because I ended up getting another donation.”
Excuse me as I go wipe my eyes! I just love everythin’ about this event. It so fully embodies the spirit of the season, and that sense of community and takin’ care of each other is just what being a Forsythian is all about.
So how can you support it? By havin’ the time of your life at Jingle N Mingle!
Jingle N Mingle is the first Saturday of December, which is December 5 this year. There’s live music, vendors, food trucks, a kids zone, and all sorts of festive fun! Plus, there’s a Candy Cane Crawl! That’s where people go around to different businesses and try different “candy cane” themed specials. Participants buy a $10 candy cane necklace (which you can go ahead and purchase on the Main Street website, or buy on site) that lights up to wear on the ‘crawl’. And if you’re wearin’ the necklace when you enter participating shops and restaurants, you might get a free appetizer or discount or somethin’. The restaurants all have a lot of fun comin’ up with signature Christmas drinks, and some of the retailers do neat “spin the wheel” or “candy cane drawings” kind of activities.
All proceeds from Jingle N Mingle go to support Shop with a City Hero—necklace sales, vendor fees, etc. People also make direct donations, which can be done in person on the day of, or on the event website (right next to the “purchase a necklace” button!).
“After the fundraiser is over and we see how much we’ve raised,” shared Ms. Kemie, “that’s when I can let them know this is how many kids I can take.”
There is one more event left on the calendar this holiday season—the Forsythia Ball Drop on New Year’s Eve!—but there’s gotta be somethin’ left for you to find out about on the podcast! Go on and give the full episode a listen below, and I’ll catch you next time for our recap of Monroe Today.
‘Til Next Time,
Your Storyteller