It was cold enough to make it feel like Christmas, but not so cold that it could keep the thousands of foot soldiers from making the trek along St. Joseph’s iconic brick-lined State Street to take in the wonder and glory of 35 individual storefronts laid out tableau style with children and adults working desperately to keep from flinching during a 90-minute Live Mannequin showcase that was, once again, a real show-stopper.
The throngs of people eager to press their noses to the plate glass windows of store after store were in good spirits and seemingly well-dressed to handle the brisk weather that might have been considerably tougher to take if the winds hadn’t died down to the degree that they did in time for the big party.
The 5th Annual Live Mannequin event sponsored by Edgewater Bank and the Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council and administered by St. Joseph Today under the tutelage of event organizer Cynthia Hagedorn from Square Peg Productions in Grand Rapids, once again had a ready-made audience of thousands who turned out an hour earlier to watch the entire Lake Bluff Park come to life with more than a million tiny lights in the annual Light Up the Bluff ceremonies led by Mayor Mike Garey.
Holiday revelers by the thousands paraded from storefront to storefront to see a colorful array of people young and old performing still-life versions of a wide variation of themes on the music of the yuletide season.
The judges for the event (full disclosure, I was one of them) deliberated for more than an hour after touring the scenes, returning to the After Party site at the Box Factory for the Arts to determine the prize winners. Four special, non-designated, awards were added to the mix by the judges including:
- Best Ensemble — Maddog 5/1 Fitness for their Silver Bells theme at City Plumbing & Heating
- Best Product Usage — Oh My Darlings for their portrayal of the 12 Days of Christmas
- Best Child — Purely Michigan’s Lily Bond for I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
- Best Hair — Statements Styling’s Lily Palgen for Your a Mean One, Mister Grinch
In the pre-designated categories the judges made the following awards at the After Party at The Box, where the Deep Fried Pickle Project was performing live:
- Best of Show — Purely Michigan for I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
- Best of Show Runner-Up — Kilwin’s for It’s a Marshmallow World
- Best Storefront Display — Lana’s Boutique for I’ll Be Home for Christmas
- Most Creative — Moxie’s Boutique for Christmas Around the World
- Best Male Model — Lana’s Boutique’s Taylor Clark for I’ll Be Home for Christmas
- Best Female Model — Friends by Design’s Lisa Cripps-Downey for White Christmas
From Lazy Ballerina’s rock star cast portraying Prince’s Party Like It’s 1999 as they celebrated New Years to the Naughty & Nice Santa Girls from HarborTown Interiors, the storefronts were decked out with hardy souls working diligently to keep from moving despite the shouts, whistles, camera flashes, taps on the window and attempts to make eye-contact in order to throw them off their game.
From Elvis’ Blue Christmas portrayal by members of the art co-op at Chartreuse to the kids who wanted a Hippopotamus for Christmas at The Olive Cart, there were bright and upbeat stories depicted throughout the central business district.
The party isn’t over yet, however. Tomorrow’s Reindog Parade, stepping off at 4pm in downtown St. Joseph ushers in the arrival of Santa Claus and there are dozens of shops eager to help you fulfill the deepest desires of those who appear on your Christmas list with lots of great offerings and many bargains as well.
Purely Michigan’s I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus...
Kilwin’s It’s a Marshmallow World…
Lana’s Boutique’s I’ll Be Home for Christmas…
Moxie’s Boutique’s Christmas Around the World…
