Gatherings

Be a good Santa
I had the pleasure of attending the “Celebrate Santa” convention back in March of this year. There were about 400 portly gentlemen attending to trade secrets on how to be a better Santa. I took all the knowledge collected at this gathering, mixed it with my own and have come up with ten tips on how you can be a great Santa. Read them now and start practicing for this holiday season. It will be time very well spent. You Have a Major Responsibility Being Santa Claus carries a lot of responsibilities. People see a good looking Santa and want…
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TSO keeps going and going and going
Trans-Siberian Orchestra reveals 2022 holiday tour dates and answers your burning questions by Melissa Ruggieri of USA TODAY Rare is the juggernaut as potent as Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The musical locomotive – a gloriously grandiose combination of classical music, hair metal and holiday feels – has owned the road for more than two decades (virtually in 2020) and 2,000 shows. This year’s tour, dubbed The Ghosts of Christmas Eve – The Best of TSO and More, pulls from TSO’s “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve” album and TV special, one of the enduring holiday classics created primarily by late founder, composer and…
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Christmas Expo 2013
As the new owners of the Christmas Expo, Joyce Perhac with ProShow, Inc. and Janice Blasko from The Abbey Group couldn’t be more excited to express their love of the holiday through this event. They are sisters, who each own their own separate businesses and have collaborated over the past 20 years on projects and events that reflect their passions and are close to their hearts. Joyce is the owner of ProShow, Inc., a meeting and event planning company based in Pittsburgh, PA. She has over 25 years experience in planning events for non-profits, special interest groups and corporate businesses.…
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A ‘Lure’ of Lights
Two years ago, downtown Hayward, Wisconsin was anything but exciting during the holiday season. Main Street was lifeless and the merchants were complaining because no one was shopping. You could find a few Christmas decorations but people didn’t seem to care. There just wasn’t much Christmas spirit in Hayward. Local merchants Jan Beatty and Barb Hand sensed a problem. They were walking down Main Street and knew something needed to be done to liven up their community. Their challenge was they had absolutely no idea what to do or where to turn. Then it happened. Someone emailed Barb a video…
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Chicagoland Christmas Conference (aka: C3)
In 2005, Carrie Sansing thought about holding a small gathering of Christmas decorators to be held at her suburban Chicago home. The event was originally intended to draw Midwesterners for a relaxed meet-up of hobbyist’s. The goal was to learn from each other, eat, socialize and have fun. Labor Day weekend 2006, a “throw away” holiday, seemed perfect. Enthusiasts from the Midwest would travel a short distance by car, returning home in plenty of time for Monday’s grilling activities. Thinking perhaps 20 to 25 people would attend, planning started. As it turned out, the first C3 was attended by over…
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Another open house success
Our first open house was on December 5, 2009. We normally open the doors at 6:30 in the evening. My youngest grandson and I were taking care of some finishing touches on the garage diorama and he wanted something from out front so I did a quick jaunt through the house, out the front door and bumped right into a gentleman standing on the front step. When I looked past him there was a line of people all the way down to the corner, a block and a half away. After recovering from shock since I didn’t expect anyone to…
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Re-PLUS in Louisville
It started out a simple enough idea back in late May. Our normal bi-annual gathering of serious Christmas decorators was not meant to be in this challenging economy. Instead, the rule book was being thrown out the window and PlanetChristmas was going to sponsor a one day event in downtown Louisville. It was being called the 2009 retry of PlanetChristmas Lights Up Symposium (re-PLUS), targeted at the locals and focused on people getting together to share Christmas decorating experiences. If 50 people showed up, it was going to be deemed a success. The event was to be free but options…
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