Local Residents Participate in Christmas Walk
2nd Annual Christmas Walk finished with the prize drawing at the bandstand in downtown Oskaloosa
Oskaloosa, Iowa- The Oskaloosa Chamber of Commerce held their 2nd annual Christmas Walk Saturday Nov. 26th. 31 businesses participated in this year’s Christmas Walk. A pancake breakfast was held from 7:30 am to 9:00 am in the Penn Central Mall center court, with all donations going to the Ecumenical Food Cupboard. Beginning at 9 am, residents could go from store to store and enter to win several different prizes. Those prizes were a $50 savings bond, $250 in Osky Cash (2 different winners), and $1,000 in Osky Cash. In the mall, residents could go to the following stores to enter in the drawing:
- The Spirit Store
- Gardner Collier Jewelry
- JC Penny
- Wood N Stuff
- Maurices
- Penn Central Railroad Club
- Pizza Ranch
From there, residents could go to the following downtown businesses to enter:
- True Value Hardware
- Debbie’s Merle Norman
- Book Vault
- Brown’s Shoe Fit
- Hunters
- Matthew’s Carpet
- Marjie’s Menagerie
- Oskaloosa Outfits and Antique
- The Antique Peddler
- Oskaloosa Antique Mall
- The Eagle’s Nest
There were also several stores you could drive to around Oskaloosa:
- Wal Mart
- Z Wireless (Verizon Wireless)
- Signatures Salon
- Hair Designers
- Reruns
- Mahaska Drug
- Hy-Vee
- Fareway
- Shady Lodge Antique
- Slumberland
- Brooklyn’s Boutique
At 4:30 PM, the persons who entered their names in the drawing came back up to the square to see if their names would be drawn. Persons had to be present to win. Four different prizes were drawn for. Those again being a $50 savings bond, two- $250 Osky Cash winners, and one- $1,000 Osky Cash winner. The winners of the drawing are as follows: $50 Savings Bond- Gina Rouz, $250 Osky Cash- Jessica Grahek, (inaudible name), $1,000 Osky Cash Winner- Steve Rozenboom.
Patti Ryan took the time to speak with us after the winners of the drawing were announced. “I thought the traffic was good, even with the weather as it was. People came out and we had a larger turnout than last year, actually, signing up for prizes. I think it was very much a success again, so we just want to encourage you to spend your money locally.”
Chamber events coordinator Karen Hafner also spoke about the day’s event. “Oh it was great, the numbers compared to last year. So much better, and it was a miserable day.”
“It was a good day. It was really a nice day. The crowd was good and I know it was cold out, but you know what? It’s the first cold day we’ve had.” Hafner also said.
