Downtown transformed into Christmas village

MOUNT VERNON — The “Christmas ’50s Style” Parade and Walk transformed downtown into a semblance of Santa’s Christmas village on Sunday. With the streets closed, anticipation of the parade drew thousands of visitors to the stores and special holiday activities. The day came to a peaceful close as The Salvation Army band led caroling before the tree was lit on the Public Square.

During the Christmas Walk, the Knox County Renaissance Foundation offered an International Order of Odd Fellows open house. The renovated third floor is available for business and social use, complete with audio, visual and Internet accommodations.

Children enjoyed interacting with a number of different animals during the afternoon activities downtown. Not only were there llamas and alpacas in the parade; they could be found led about downtown, on the square and at the Mount Vernon News. Representatives from McFarland’s Llama Farm allowed visitors to pet the animals and answered the many curious questions about them.

There were also dogs in the parade courtesy of the Knox County Humane Society and Pawsitive Journey. Two of the humane society dogs, Sandy and Sissy, greeted visitors at the News where the group sold calendars and homemade dog treats.

Sissy was there with dog warden Jim St. Clair. He noted that Sissy, an American bulldog, is also a working dog for the shelter because she can test other dogs for aggression.

“She reads other dogs’ behavior,” he said.

There were also a number of “exotic” animals on the carousel. Mackenzie Tivener of Mount Vernon was delighted to ride a giraffe. She only recently moved to Mount Vernon from Kentucky with her family — mom and dad, Cathy and Bill Tivener, and her brother, Zachary.

“She goes to preschool at the YMCA,” said her mother, “so she’s made lots of friends there and Zachary likes Riverside Park. Her father is working in remodeling and her mother is a business administration student at Central Ohio Technical College.

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