GLOCESTER – Two colonists were serving the shivering troops a hot beverage. The drink was steaming chocolate, and Adam J. Heywood and Michael Giangiulio weren’t at Valley Forge helping Patriot soldiers battling the British, but members of Gloucester Light Infantry stationed outside Town Hall with fellows offering the hot drink to shoppers fighting the frigid cold on Thursday night at the kickoff in Chepachet of Candlelight Shopping.
The annual festive shopping excursion is “a wonderful experience for all the families that live in the area,” said Giangiulio. Ironically, he hails from Valley Forge where the Continental Army led by General George Washington took refuge in the brutal winter of 1777-1778. The natural fabric attire the colonial re-enactors were clad in was no Thinsulate or other high-tech material to protect the body from wintry conditions, but was “pretty much how they dressed,” explained Giangiulio. Like true hearty Colonists, neither complained of the beyond nippy cold.
Despite the cold, Candlelight Shopping is “a great experience, trying a new thing, meeting new people,” for those participating for the first time, said Heywood.
The weather didn’t freeze the Christmas spirit at the start of the Thursday nights in December shopping in an old-fashioned, small town setting. The event attracted enough bundled up holiday shoppers to slow the traffic, crowd the sidewalks, and fill the shops along historic Main Street.
The first Candlelight Shopping of the Christmas season was lit with more than the 100 lanterns, and the turnout of people for the night was “fantastic,” said Charlie Wilson of The Town Trader.
The holiday tradition began in the 1990s, and Wilson took over leadership in 2005, growing the shopping days to thirty stores this year.
What’s new is the shopping will not only continue on the upcoming next two Thursdays as usual, but also take place on Saturday, Dec. 20 before and during the annual Glocester Police & Fire Department’s Christmas Parade. Featuring vehicles, Santa Claus and associated festivities, the parade will kick off at 6 p.m. and follow Route 44 from West Glocester through Chepachet, down into Harmony at Sawmill Road and end at Ponaganset High School.
Last Thursday evening, “all the businesses did well,” said Wilson, noting of the shop owners and their customers that “everyone seemed to have a great time.”
Still popular is the open mic for singers, as well as the Christmas carolers up and down the street – and, of course, visits with Santa, at one point lined up some 20 people deep, said Wilson.
Also inside the crowded and cozy old building housing Town Trader, which was packed full with Christmas cheer and gift ideas, were Wilson and Dave Mercier ringing in the sales at the counter.
A group of women, Cherie Quinlan, Lynn Donatelli and Patty Socrat of Douglas, Mass.; Bonnie Combs of Blackstone, Mass., and Terry Keyser of Seabrook, N.H., were shopping at the store and participating in the Candlelit night in part to celebrate a birthday.
“It’s almost my birthday, and these are my friends,” explained Socrat. The trip to Chepachet is annual for the ladies, whose wore whimsical decorations on their heads.
The shopping was good, apparently. Keyser had purchased an owl nightlight and April’s maple cotton candy, and the group of friends was still on the hunt for other treasures to bring home or perhaps give as gifts.
Across the street from The Town Trader, standing on the sidewalk in front of Trish Hampton Pet Boutique and waving what appeared to be Star Wars light sabres were Andrew Engelke, Melanie Brown, and Jameson L’Heureux, students of Ponaganset High School High School.
The teens were at the crossing in front of the very busy store where owner Trish St. Onge had stepped outside.
“Candlelight Shopping has always been about slowing down and reconnecting with the magic of our town,” said St. Onge, who is a member of the Candlelight Shopping Committee. “Having our high school students now helping to set out lanterns, guide shoppers and share maps reminds me that this tradition isn’t just preserved – it’s growing. They’re helping carry the tradition on.”
Across the way, outside Brown & Hopkins, Faith Barlow was braving the cold and perhaps warming the hearts of passersby by playfully bantering with them and singing Christmas Carols. She’s the daughter of the owner Cynthia Barlow, she said.
Inside the candle-scented Brown & Hopkins store packed with decorations and holiday treats, the line of shoppers wound around the first room to the cashier counter.
Jewelry designer and maker Poppy G. of Smithfield was stationed close to the front door of the store at a card table covered in his glittering creations and greeting shoppers with a big smile. Customers were eyeballing his treasures, and they were on special sale, $25 for each bracelet – worth between $70 and $80.
Poppy G. explained he began in the legendary Rhode Island jewelry industry in 1957, when it was among the top employers in the state, and fortunes were made by companies, small to mega-size.
The jewelry designer created for “most of the manufacturers,” and sold his product to specialty stores and outlets, such as 900 T.J. Maxx stores, and the Walmart stores on the East Coast. Poppy G. also had “party plans,” a popular way to sell jewelry in homes.
Business was brisk at Brown and Hopkins Thursday, so successful that before the night was over, Poppy G had sold out two boxes packed with dozens of of bracelets.
Among those gazing at the glittering bracelets were two of his regular customers, Burrillville residents Donna Hopkins, and her daughter Nicole Hopkins.
The ladies are descendants of the famous patriot Stephen Hopkins, who was from Scituate, as well as related to the original Hopkins from whom the country store got its name, explained Donna.
“We were on the shuttle and went to almost every single store,” said Nicole. “Everyone’s so nice. I have never any complaint. There’s just a lot of holiday spirit.”
This year’s Candlelight Shopping had a long list of sponsors including both businesses and organizations, from the Glocester Business Association to the police department.
The patriots, meanwhile, were recruiting for their Gloucester Light Infantry, as Jack Frost more than nipped, he bit in the night wind.
Nevertheless, the shoppers rushed home with their treasures, just as Jay Livingston and Ray Evans wrote in 1950 in the lyrics of the beloved song was created for the movie “The Lemon Drop Kid.”
Future visitors can see a map of the Christmas Parade route, and more information here.
I haven’t any cheer this year…or the next. Fridge is empty….