theordquiz.com

By Kate Wolf
   The morning of November 30 dawned crisp and extremely cold for the annual WinterFest celebration in downtown Ord. It was held in conjunction with Small Business Saturday and designed to encourage people to shop small and shop local as they fulfill their Christmas gift lists.  Undeterred by the frigid temperatures, crowds of people lined the streets and almost all of the parking spaces were filled as a cheerful Caleb Pollard, of Valley County Economic Development and Scratchtown Brewing Company, kicked off the festivities with the first numbered snowball drawings.  Santa’s “List” included 317 names of people who had signed up for the drawings throughout the day, which in no way reflected the actual attendance for the many activities featured for both adults and children as many did not sign up.
   Breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus at Jubilee Catering provided welcome respite from the cold and featured tater tots, eggs, sausage and bacon with tortillas so you could make your own breakfast burritos, in addition to a fruit medley and beverages.  The venue was packed, the food was excellent and it proved to be a highly successful fundraiser for Ord’s eighth grade class under the sponsorship of Heather Fox.
   Many other fundraising booths dotted the square as countless people went from store to store getting their Christmas shopping completed. Everywhere you looked, folks were laughing and visiting with armloads of packages, greeting others with a cheerful “Merry Christmas.” Local merchants were heard to remark that it was the best single sales day ever!
   The wide variety of activities continued throughout the day and into the evening with a parade, lighting of the enormous official Christmas tree on the west side of the courthouse and holiday musical entertainment by Ord Elementary students.
   It was pretty amazing….the kind of event that could only be planned by people who really care, who are not reluctant to volunteer and who carry the true meaning of Christmas in their hearts all year long. Only a rural community like Ord, with its proud history, quaint Norman Rockwell-like downtown business district, extremely generous merchants, and the support of the Chamber could pull off an event of this magnitude.
   The credit for the spectacular success of the WinterFest event this year goes to Christy Oestreich of Ord’s Ace Hardware and her dedicated team of volunteers, committee members and specialized “elves” who made it all happen so efficiently. They made it seem effortless, even though they have been working on the WinterFest 2024 project for the major part of this year.
   It was truly heart-warming, enjoyable, and a real reminder of what rural Nebraska communities can accomplish when they put their minds to it.  No matter how you look at it, this year’s WinterFest event is going to be a tough act to follow.