The Shawnee State Lodge is one of the area’s hottest spots, especially when it comes to tourism. People from all over visit to get away from the world, immerse themselves in the historic state park, and engage in all the offerings the area has to relax and enjoy nature. This time of year is no different, as they welcome thousands to the halls that showcase over 30 lit trees that have been decorated in partnership with social groups and garden clubs.
“It is great to see the Lodge decorated and so festive,” Lodge Manager Robin McIntire said. “We have 35 trees lavishly decorated by the garden clubs, plus the many additional decorations we put out. It is festive and merry and we’re so happy to be part of the community when it comes to celebrating the season.”
Each year, the different garden clubs descend on the Lodge to adopt a tree to decorate. Their effort makes the decorating possible.
“We’re grateful for the ladies who visit with the garden clubs to decorate our Lodge with beautiful trees,” McIntire said. “We’ve been doing this for 32 years now and we are always so excited for it.”
McIntire said that the seasonal decorations will attract thousands over the holidays.
“Plenty of people visit to have dinner, take in the lights, or stay,” McIntire said. “We even have a lot of younger students visit to see the beauty of the lodge during programming with Jenny Richards.”
McIntire claimed that they will spend the season directing people to local attractions, like Winterfest and Christmas Caves, as well as other small businesses and restaurants. Their tradition brings a lot of people to the community, which McIntire said has served the community for a long time.
“We really started this tradition years back, when there wasn’t much to do around the holiday season or many lights to visit. It was a great start and addition then and continues to be today,” McIntire said. “Now, we’re happy to have Winterfest, The Christmas Caves, and so much more in the county to bring people in. We always push these events to our guests and try to get them out enjoying our festivities and small businesses.”
An open house will be held December 10 for the community to enjoy between noon and three. The garden clubs will have volunteers there, around 20 vendors will be present, entertainment, dance crews and choirs, Santa, free cookies and hot chocolate, and even a pay buffet. Vendors set up early at 10 a.m.
Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved.
