There’s a wonderland in Port Stanley again this year. Thousands have seen it, many making repeat visits. For a first-timer, the 291 Selbourne Drive Port Stanley Christmas Lights are truly oooohhh-inspiring. You may find your mouth dropping open as you enter the back yard, and then perhaps you will be able to settle into a smiling sense of wonder.

The Arts & Cookery Bank ended their Twelve Days of Christmas events this year with a “Sweet Endings Long Lunch” celebrating of the sweet potato. It was a salute to locally grown food and the versatility of the sweet potato, with tasty treats consisting of sweet potato soup, fries, twice baked potato, and pie. 

Local growers, Monika and Leo Rastapkevicius supplied the sweet potatoes from their R-Grow farm near West Lorne and stopped in to sample the sweet creations. They also grow sweet corn, muskmelons, seeded and seedless watermelons, ornamental pumpkins and gourds and cash crops.

The HMCS Ojibwa is spending her first Christmas in Elgin County. Last Friday she was decorated for the holidays and received a Christmas present in the form of a cheque from the estate of John and Dorothy Palmer. 

The “Lighting of the Boat” ceremony is in keeping with the tradition of the Royal Canadian Navy to decorate its boats and ships for Christmas. It’s perhaps the first of many naval and marine traditions which will come to the area along with the HMCS Ojibwa submarine.

Home for Christmas

The Western Elgin Home for Christmas Event runs November 23rd to December 7th with more than fifty businesses in Dutton, Wallacetown, Rodney, West Lorne and surrounding areas offering  special "Home for Christmas" draws. Photos below are from four of the participating businesses, The Arts & Cookery Bank and Alley Kat Music in West Lorne, and Country Seat Upholstery and Lavender Sense in Wallacetown.

The Midtown Tavern proved it could morph quite nicely into a Christmas concert venue on Sunday, as Meg McTaggart performed a release concert for her brand new cd, Winter Songs. She covered all of the songs from the album, plus a few more, accompanied by Don Baker during packed 4 and 8pm concerts.