Page 01                                                                        Valley Voice December 14, 2011

Popular Christmas by the Lake continues to draw the crowds

submitted by Art Joyce

It’s a little piece of old-fashioned Christmas just a snowball’s throw from Slocan Lake.

Christmas by the Lake, now in its fifth successful year, once again brought out the crowds over the December 2-4 weekend. Organizer Armand Lange estimates this year’s turnout at about the same as last year’s peak of 1,800, with the Nelson shuttle bus fully booked for the first time. But new features have added to the variety and appeal of the event, including the addition of fire dancers who performed after sundown.

“I never saw before such a crowd lined up at 5:00 for one of our events,” says Lange.

PHOTO CREDIT: ART JOYCE
Fire dancers were a new feature at this year’s Christmas by the Lake.

Also new was an expanded musical repertoire that included Nelson group Heavy Shtetl, Nakusp singer-guitarist Caelen Starblanket Laroque, and the Slocan Lake Community Ensemble conducted by Jill Faulks. The Village Voices choir enlightened the Friday evening opening celebrations and Lange said it was a special treat to hear the kids’ choir Sunday morning.

For the kids there was more fun to be had than ever. While the ice slide remains the number one outdoor attraction for tykes, the new gingerbread house workshop offered by Robin McNabb of William Hunter Cabins was a huge hit. McNabb baked the gingerbread and the kids then decorated their own houses.

Children and adults once again savoured the taste of ‘chestnuts roasted on an open fire’ just as in the old Christmas carol. Lange said that although attendance was about the same as 2010, there was more glüwein, bratwurst and waffles sold this year. Adding to the European flavours of the event was a truly Canadian backwoods experience – cooking bannock dough over a fire. For any Canadian who grew up doing wilderness camping and canoe trips, this was practically a rite of passage.

Lange said the vendors are reporting that they sold well and as usual the maximum capacity of 33 vendors was achieved. Once again the standard of crafts offered for sale was high, with many old favourites and some new additions in the photography and jewelry departments. Madeleine McCarthy won for best inside booth display while Kayte Rock of Soup du Jar won best vendor hut outside. Sophie Burkholder won the draw for the kids’ prize, a tablet computer.

Woodcarver Luc Vreyxs created two new sculptures, both to be raffled off. His impressive new eagle sculpture was won by a Nakusp man. The second sculpture will be raffled on the July 1st Canada Day celebrations. Vreys is also the creator of the wooden Christmas by the Lake signs, which now appear each year near the site of the Silverton Museum/ Gallery grounds. One of our resident blacksmiths, Dr. Chuck Burkholder, was again spotted practicing the ancient art, and reported being asked to build stair railings. This writer put in a request for a pair of fireplace tongs, but with a physician’s busy schedule, it’s an open question whether these will materialize.

The only disappointment this year was the lack of an ice sculpture due to over-rambunctious kids who knocked down the work-in-progress before it could be completed. Ice sculptor Peter Vogelaar said weather conditions this year didn’t help – about two tons of snow had to be trucked in to the site for the slide this year due to the lack of snow at lake level.

Christmas by the Lake has garnered widespread corporate and government sponsorship, including the CBT, RDCK, Canadian Heritage, Columbia Power, Slocan Lake Recreation Commission #6, EZ Rock radio, Kaslo Hotel, Soup du Jar and Silverton Transport.

PHOTO CREDIT: CARLA NEMIROFF
New Denver/Silverton area singers entertain the crowd at Christmas by the Lake.

Page 32                                     Community                                Valley Voice December 14, 2011