Langley merchants plan ahead to make sure shoppers buy local

LANGLEY — It’s June, but Mary-Elizabeth Rosenberg, co-owner of Mike’s Place in Langley, and Kim Tiller, owner of the Whidbey Soap Company, are already thinking about jingle bells and reindeers.

They’re flipping through Christmas light

catalogues and researching other communities’ Christmas celebrations. The merchants of Langley have big plans for the Christmas season roughly six months away.

Langley’s celebration will be bigger, better and brighter this December.

“It’s supposed to be something very, very special — bring a sense of magic to Langley,” Rosenberg said.

“What happened last year was totally devastating to the spirit of this town,” she added, referring to the winter storms that brought power outages and icy roads to the South End and kept many shoppers at home.

Recovering from a tough shopping season where some business owners reported sales being down by 50 percent or more, some merchants have decided that picturesque Langley could be the backdrop for a winter wonderland that would bring visitors to local shops and restaurants and their dollars to the local economy. So in January, a group of “Christmas Masterminds” formed and have been since meeting once a week for planning and brainstorming.

“Come Home for Christmas” is the theme this year. Tiller came up with this theme and it was quickly adopted.

“It’s going to be an old-fashioned Christmas,” Tiller said.

And the group has big ideas for Langley. For four weekends before Christmas, Langley will be home to a Christmas Market, a Candy Cane Lane, as well as Santa and Mrs. Claus, Rosenberg said.

Langley traditions such as the tree lighting ceremony will also be part of the celebration, while new ones, such as a Christmas parade, will be added.

Each business, including the public buildings on First and Second streets, Anthes Avenue, Langley Village and Frick Lane are being encouraged to light up and decorate. Planners of the big yuletide celebration hope homeowners will catch the Christmas spirit and decorate their homes, too, and help light up Langley.

Organizers also hope that every building in town will be lit with LED lights. They have found a supplier for the lights, but are still looking for sponsors.

Langley Park will be beaming with a multitude of lights, Rosenberg said.

There will be a Santa’s workshop where children can be photographed with Santa and have a recording made of their special song to Santa.

In the workshop, there will also be a space for children to sparkle their faces and make a handprint that can be paired with a poem as a gift for family members.

Musicians and entertainers are also being invited to perform throughout town.

The celebration is a chance for non-profit organizations and clubs to participate either by promoting themselves or selling Christmas goodies, cards or gifts as a fundraiser at the Christmas market.

Though the big Christmas push is partially inspired by the love for the spirit of the season, it also has something to do with the economic survival of the small shops in Langley. Many merchants make the money to sustain them through the tourist-free first quarter of the year with their Christmas earnings, Rosenberg said.

“This is a fall-out of the misery all of us experienced during the last Christmas season,” she said.

The “Christmas Masterminds” have been meeting every Wednesday morning since January and are now ready for help, support and ideas from the community.

People who are interested or have questions can contact the organizers at 221-4424 or

Dorsum4@aol.com.

“We have been meeting with electricians, the city planner, the city library, the superintendent of schools and sponsors — many sponsors — to help offset the financial requirement to make this a success,” Rosenberg said.

They have already secured financial and material support of a number of sponsors, including Puget Sound Energy, Ace Hardware, Lumberman’s, Fred Meyer, SYSCO, FSA food distributors, Wells Fargo, Whidbey Telecom and Frontier Lumber.

Tiller said the Christmas celebration is not only intended for Langley businesses and groups only, but said all of South Whidbey is invited to participate.