(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (graphic pop) (upbeat music fades) - Hello, and welcome to "The Journal."

I'm Steve Kendall.

Bowling Green will be glowing sparkling in November and December as the holiday kicks off with "BG Merry & Bright."

Joining us are Michele Raine and Brian Paskvan.

Welcome to "The Journal."

Thank you for both being here.

Michele, Wood County Public District Libraries involved.

Brian, part of the Downtown Improvement District, representing them.

Michele, talk about, a little about the library first, so the people probably familiar with it, but some things that you know about the library, other things you do besides what we're about to talk about.

- Sure.

I like to talk about the library as the most interesting place in town where you can come and learn anything that you're interested in, helps you stay curious at all stages of life with many activities and resources in every format that you could want, books, downloadables, streaming.

We try to have it all so that you can stay curious forever.

- And involved in things like "Merry & Bright," as well.

- [Michele] Absolutely.

- Brian, Downtown Improvement District, you're representing them today.

Talk about what that organization is about and what it does.

- Well, the shop owners and the building owners downtown are really, they really want to make sure that downtown comes alive and has the storefronts filled and everything.

It's a very vibrant downtown.

So basically, this year we're looking at adding some holiday events to that and just really to light up the town and do some other things that are gonna bring people down to support our shops and our restaurants.

- Yeah, because when you look at Bowling Greens downtown, compared to a lot of towns its size, smaller, even a little bit larger.

The downtown is pretty active pretty much every day of the year.

There's always a lot going on, a lot of activities, a lot of businesses, a wide variety of businesses.

When you look at this particular event, Michele, when you first sat down to talk about this, what are some of the things you talked about?

Obviously, the tree lighting's gonna be the thing that draws people's attention, but it's a lot more than that, as well.

- [Michele] Well, we are really fortunate to have a vibrant and still alive downtown where you can do everyday business, as well as get a cup of coffee at quite a few places.

- [Steve] Sure.

- Or get a tattoo if you would like to have one of those.

- [Steve] Yeah, yep.

- But we're really, really fortunate to have the downtown that we have and the group of people who are really committed to keeping it as an important part of what makes Bowling Green the special place that it is.

So I had been sharing with Brian some of my thoughts about lighting and what it could look like and we started brainstorming and then more people started participating.

And then the next thing we know we are, there's a group of us who are really interested in what we can do during the holiday season to make Bowling Green a festive and wonderful place for those of us who are already here and then pull people in.

- [Steve] Sure.

- To make it a really great place to visit and have an experience in Bowling Green.

- [Brian] Mary Hinkelman from the Chamber and Kati Thompson from the Improvement District have just been wonderful in helping us get this thing off the ground.

But we can talk about lots of events that we're going to have and we're starting off with the tree lighting and the parade and all kinds of things downtown that we're going to sponsor.

So we think that it will be a wonderful festive season for people.

It's gonna be very family friendly and very cost effective.

So people are gonna not have to shell out a lot of money to come down and enjoy.

- [Steve] To participate in all these different events.

- [Brian] Absolutely.

- [Michele] Right.

- [Steve] Now the tree lighting, the date for that is?

- [Michele] Friday, November 22nd.

- [Steve] Okay.

All right.

- [Michele] It's a whole thing this year.

In the past, we kind of gathered outside and flicked on the lights and then went inside for the Madrigal Concert.

But this year, we've got a lot more going on, starting with a showing of the movie, "Elf, starring- - [Steve] Ah, okay.

- James Caan and Will Ferrell.

That will start at four o'clock inside the library and it's kind of like a drop in, go watch your favorite segment and then, or stay for the whole thing if you would like.

But what's different this year is we're keeping the entire library open for the whole event.

- [Steve] Oh.

- In the past we used to close and then open again for the concert afterwards, but we'll just keep the library open this year.

So then, at five o'clock, we're having characters arrive so you can take photos with the Grinch, Ruby the Frog will be there.

- [Steve] Yep, yep.

- [Michele] And we think we'll have an elf on the shelf as well that you can take photos with.

So the characters will roam.

Then we're going to have an ugly sweater contest and we're encouraging people to participate by giving out these reindeer bags to those who are brave enough to let us judge their ugly sweater.

- [Steve] And we wanna make sure these are ugly holiday sweaters, not just ugly sweaters.

- [Michele] Yes, hol- - [Steve] All right.

- [Michele] Yes, ugly holiday sweaters.

- [Steve] There are a lot of ugly sweaters besides ugly holiday sweaters, okay.

- [Michele] Right.

- [Steve] At least, in my opinion.

- [Michele] Yes, there are.

- [Steve] Other people would disagree but, okay.

- [Michele] We are trying to focus on the holiday and we're really fortunate that several vendors, downtown, merchants downtown have added gift cards.

So Civista Bank has put in some swag, ACE and Ace Hardware has put in a $5 gift certificate, Bins and For Keeps have put in a $5 gift certificate, and there will be Qdoba coupons.

So if you will participate in our holiday ugly sweater contest, you'll get a reindeer bag with goodies for as long as they last.

- [Steve] Okay.

All right.

- So we'll have that happening.

Then there'll be a story time inside at six and then we'll all come outside for the tree lighting and you can take photos with the characters this whole time.

The mayor will arrive on the fire track and it'll be lights on and then we'll go inside for the traditional concert that the Bowling Green High School Magicals put on.

So it should be a wonderful time.

We'll have Court Street closed so it will be safe.

And we're giving out lighted bracelets as long as they last.

- Yeah, and probably too, with a lot of the businesses downtown, they'll be open that day.

- [Michele] Yes.

- And participate, obviously, in this, as well.

When you first, as you talked about kicking off this idea, the scope of it, obviously, is pretty broad.

It's gonna be pretty exciting.

The downtown is always well-decorated year-round, whether seasonally for everything, as well.

But this will just be kind of an extra little, kinda like some icing on top of that cake, as well.

- [Michele] Right, because the chamber and the Downtown Special Improvement District have really done a lot of work to make this happen.

- [Brian] So downtown's gonna, what I say, it's gonna be lit up like never before.

So we are bringing in 30 arborvitaes in and placing them in all of the pots that normally hold the flowers and then those are all going to be lit.

And then we are going to, of course, we just finished the Uplighting Project, so all the new trees that have just been planted downtown have new uplights.

So those will be all lit, also.

And then we're working on a pretty ambitious project of lighting the four corners.

So, which is the center of town and we're looking at trying to string some lights between the different buildings.

That project is going on right now.

We're hoping to pull it off by the holidays, but it's a little more in depth than what we initially anticipated because we have to make sure that we don't hurt the front of the buildings and the lights are done properly and- - [Steve] And keep everything high enough and out of harms way, yeah.

- [Brian] In fact, we're having a meeting right now on that, so.

(laughs) So we're looking to do that, also.

So you're gonna see downtown that's gonna have a very nice- - [Steve] Wow.

- [Brian] Bright white glow all the way through.

So when we light the tree, we're hoping to light the downtown, also, at that point in time, and really make it just a wonderful place to visit, a destination point, if you will.

- [Steve] Sure, sure.

- [Brian] For people to come and see the lights in downtown Bowling Green.

- [Steve] Yeah, now when we come back, we can talk more about some of the other things that are going go on because this is obviously the kickoff and the activities, but you said there's a long list of things that are gonna go on through November and into December, as well.

Back in just a moment.

We're talking "BG Merry & Bright," with Michele Raine and Brian Paskvan, here on "The Journal."

Back in a moment.

- You're with us on "The Journal."

Our guests are Michele Raine and Brian Paskvan, here talking about "BG Merry & Bright."

Brian, we were talking about some of the activities of tree lighting.

That starts things out, but as we move into December, other things start to happen as well as part of this.

So, tell us about the things that follow the tree lighting and what's gonna happen.

- [Brian] Yeah, on the following day, we do start with the parade.

I wanna make sure I mention that.

So we have probably close to 90 units signed up so far.

11 of those happen to be bands.

So we are gonna have a wonderful sound.

- [Steve] Oh, that'll sound great.

- [Brian] In downtown.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- And so we're really looking forward to that.

We're praying for great weather and we wanna be nice and warm in our outfits out there and we're looking forward to that.

So that runs from 10 to noon on that Saturday and we're looking forward to that.

But Steve, we have so many new things coming in town, so we have a beautiful Wooster Green and we want to really do things out there.

So we said, "Wouldn't it be nice to have Santa sitting in the gazebo hanging out and being able to meet a lot of kids in that particular area?"

So on December 6th and 7th, Santa's gonna be sitting in the gazebo.

We're gonna have some fire pits on the green, also.

We're gonna have some professional photographers come out and we're gonna have at least three scenes set up.

So you can come out and take some holiday pictures, maybe for your Christmas cards.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Brian] And they're gonna be uploaded to a website so you can download those and print those and that will be free to you.

There's no cost for the photographers to come out.

- [Steve] Wow, that'll be great.

- [Brian] They're donating their time.

So we're really excited about that.

We're also gonna have some music out there.

We're working on caroling groups to just kind of come out and sing while we're in that space.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Brian] And just have a really good time.

And then we have some donations by State Bank.

They're gonna have hot chocolate out there.

And then we hope to have some sweet treats those weekends, too.

We know that there's gonna be definitely a funnel cake on Saturday.

- [Steve] (laughing) Yep.

- [Brian] We're still working on some sweet tweets, sweet treats!

I'd say that fast three times.

On Friday, and we're looking for people to come out and just really enjoy, really at no cost to them.

So come out, get a little warm, here's some music, see Santa, have some pictures taken and just really enjoy the downtown.

The following weekend on December, make sure I get my dates right here, 13th and 14th, we are going to do everything in downtown.

We're gonna- - [Steve] Okay.

- Santa's gonna stroll, the carolers are gonna stroll through downtown, so you have to find Santa where he's at.

And then, we're going to have a really great thing.

We're gonna have carriage rides.

So, and at a small cost, then basically people can jump on the carriage at the police station, right.

- [Michele] The police station, mm-hmm.

- I think is what we decided.

And they're gonna be able to ride through downtown and see the lights and really enjoy all of that.

- This will be like a, literally like a Christmas like we've seen in movies, yeah, the older style kind of thing where it's a slower pace.

You can enjoy all the activities and kind of just enjoy the holiday instead of the rushing that usually takes place.

The hustle and bustle, the, "Oh, we gotta do this, we gotta do that," that sort of thing.

- [Brian] And we do have one more event on the 15th.

- [Steve] Yeah, for sure, yeah.

- [Brian] On the 15th, so, a really unique thing.

So our courthouse is a beautiful structure, but what we have found is if you stand on the staircase in the courthouse and sing, the acoustics are amazing.

- [Steve] Oh, okay.

- And it fills all three floors of the courthouse.

So from three o'clock to 4:30, somewhere around that point in time, we're bringing in musical groups, the commissioners are hosting a small reception and basically, you can stroll to the courthouse, see the architecture of it, maybe learn a little bit about the history of the courthouse and listen to music as it fills the courthouse.

- So yeah, so all of these different venues and opportunities to enjoy the holiday in whatever way you wanna enjoy it.

And you mentioned Worcester Green and that's really an incredible thing because it expands the downtown footprint.

It's part of it, but yet it provides you with the opportunity, to what you were saying, too, that Santa is there in an environment that isn't crowded, isn't clustered, all those other activities going on.

So yeah, it'll just be a great time for people.

As you move through this, and obviously, the parade is a big part of this.

That's a big day.

And you mentioned the weather, because it can be like it is today, 70 degrees, or it can be a little cooler.

- [Michele] It can be cold.

(chuckles) - [Steve] A little cooler, a little frosty.

But it's always a good time and always very entertaining, of course.

People come out, turn out for that.

You said 90 groups involved so far.

When you first started out, did you believe you were gonna have this much activity going on?

- (Brian and Michele laughing) Because we probably haven't covered all of it yet, have we?

- [Brian] (laughing) Well, we're getting close, but- - [Steve] We still got few more things, but, yeah.

- [Brian] When we started out, we weren't sure.

We kept throwing lots of ideas and just trying to figure out everything from a skating rink to uh.

- [Brian] Reindeers.

- [Steve] Reindeers.

- [Steve] There we go.

- [Brian] Next year we're gonna book those reindeers early so they got booked- - [Steve] They're gonna skate on the- The skating reindeers.

Now there's something.

Yeah.

- [Brian] Right.

But.

- [Steve] Nevermind.

- [Brian] We would like to continue to expand this.

So we would love to see this go all the way through the whole month of December and end up with maybe some type of first watch celebration on New Year's Eve.

- [Steve] Oh, okay.

- So we're gonna work through that as the years come.

So we just kind of had to chunk this down into something that we could get started and get people used to it.

But we really wanna make Bowling Green a destination point.

So we've got great shops, we have wonderful restaurants downtown, so we want people to come here, enjoy the beauty of the downtown, visit the merchants and really enjoy themselves.

- [Steve] Yeah and Michele, from the perspective of the library, too, it's another opportunity for people to see just what a great organization, what a great facility that is, brings 'em into the downtown.

But then they, as you said, you're gonna be open during the tree lighting and all, with the movie and everything.

So it gives people a chance to maybe to enjoy that facility in a way that maybe they hadn't thought about before.

- Right, and the good thing about the library is, it's constantly evolving and trying to stay interesting.

I find it fascinating all the time, but if you haven't been to Bowling Green in a while or you haven't visited the downtown in a while, this will be the year to come and visit both the library, again.

We would love to have people who haven't been in a while come and see what's all happening at the library.

We have a really extensive calendar of events now with some really great story times twice a week.

We have activities for all ages.

We have a Fiber Friends that meets every week.

So if you want to learn how to knit or crochet, this is the place to do it.

It's just an open invitation to the holiday season and to the library for everyone to come and experience, I think, all the best that Bowling Green has to offer, put together by people who really care about Bowling Green and have had a wonderful time working together to kind of pull this off.

- [Steve] Yeah, well, and the other thing, too, and people are probably, City of Bowling Green are aware, but of course, you have the new city administration building.

- [Michele] Yes, yeah.

- [Steve] Which is a great addition of downtown, pretty close to the library.

- [Michele] Yes!

(laughing) - [Steve] Basically, adjacent to the library.

So people get a look at that, too, and just see the evolution of that from being in the schoolhouse back kind of off of Main Street.

- [Michele] Right.

- [Steve] To now this facility that's very open and welcoming to the public and all of that.

So again, expanding the footprint of downtown and giving people a reason to come down there and just envision it, too.

When we come back, we can talk more about some of the events and some of the other things and maybe a little bit more too about downtown improvement and what that means and how that is done the rest of the year, not just during these special event kind of things.

Back in just a moment with Michele Raine and Brian Paskvan.

You're on "The Journal."

- Thank you for staying with us on "The Journal."

Our guests are Michele Raine and Brian Paskvan who are here to talk about "BG Merry & Bright."

And Michele, earlier on the first segment we talked about the fact that there are gonna be characters there and you can get your pictures taken, of course.

A little shameless self promotion, our mascot, Ruby, the red-eyed tree frog's gonna be there as one of the characters.

So talk again about what people are gonna see as far as the characters are concerned.

And then we'll kind of unfold the rest of the events, as well.

- Sure, so we're super excited to have Ruby, the red-eyed tree frog, join us.

It's part of a, sort of a really great partnership that we've had with WBGU for the last couple of years where they visit the library for author visits and other educational events that we put on.

And then several times, WBGU has actually given away books to the families that attend.

So we're really, really thankful for the partnership with WBGU.

And then, we've got someone from the Walbridge Village, has a Grinch costume that she loves.

It's very realistic.

(all laughs) Tanya, and she's gonna be down- - [Steve] That's gonna be good or bad.

We'll see how it works out, all right.

- [Michele] Yeah, so Tanya will be in the Grinch costume and then, I'm hoping to convince one of our staff to be the elf on the shelf.

If not, we'll have another character.

- [Steve] Okay.

All right.

- But it's been, it's gonna be fun where you can just wander around and take photos with the characters and spend some time.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- Outside in our Shakespeare garden and having a great time right before the tree lighting.

- Yeah, and we mentioned, too, the fact, you brought up the fact that while this is going on, during certain times, there's gonna be carriage rides available for people.

So if you're not, maybe say, you don't wanna walk through the whole downtown, there's a simple way to just, you know, jump on the carriage and ride that around and see all the sites and all the activities, as well.

Yeah, yeah?

- [Brian] So we really want to thank South Creek Clydesdale's out of- - Ah huh, okay.

- [Michele] Yes, Fremont.

- [Brian] Fremont?

Fremont.

And they're going to be providing the carriage rides at a minimal cost.

But again, jump on it at the, in front of the police station and then you can ride through beautiful downtown, see all the lights.

Just a nice way to go.

And I think kids will really enjoy it.

- [Steve] Oh, yeah.

- [Brian] I know, I would enjoy it.

- [Michele] Right!

Giant horses, what's not to love?

- [Brian] They're beautiful.

- [Steve] Yeah, yeah.

- [Brian] Absolutely beautiful.

- [Steve] Well, and the other thing, too, we mentioned the fact that there's gonna be a lot of extra decorating going on, a lot of, you mentioned the arborvitaes that are coming in, again, provided by Southeastern Container, I believe.

So just a lot of, the downtown's gonna look incredibly different, incredibly great and it looks good all the time, but this will be kind of a special extra layer of activity and imagery that people won't wanna miss.

- [Michele] Right, and just to kind of quickly go over the schedule, the carriage rides will be December 13th and 14th.

- [Steve] Okay.

- [Michele] And so on that Friday they will start- - [Brian] At five.

- [Michele] At 5:00 PM.

And then on Saturday, they will start at 4:00 PM so it will be a dusk, very bright, enjoy the lights kind of experience.

- [Steve] Exactly, yeah.

- Going through town.

And the other thing, we've thanked so many people today, but really, the whole event couldn't have happened without all of these people.

- [Steve] Sure, sure.

- [Michele] Coming together.

- Yeah, and I think, too, and Brian, you mentioned the fact, too, it's like the first time out, there's certain things you think you know, certain things you find out, "Oh, we didn't know as much about that as we thought," but that's been a learning experience.

And then you store that away for the next year and go, "Okay, next year, we'll know how to do this a little better.

Plus, we'll add this to it," so.

- [Brian] We learned that there's an art to stringing lights on a tree.

- [Michele] Right, right.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Brian] And Amy from For Keeps is teaching people how to string lights on a tree.

So it should be very consistent and beautiful in downtown.

But for Amy at For Keeps and at Ace has done a wonderful job.

They've donated and sponsored.

Ben's and, I should say, Amy's at Ben's and For Keeps, and Kati at Ace, have sponsored and given us dollars to do these kinds of things, Qdoba, Civista Bank.

So we are just so excited to have all these partnerships to really make downtown what it's gonna be for this holiday season and just absolutely beautiful, so.

- [Steve] Yeah, and if people wanna find out, I mean, more about this, obviously, we've talked about this, we've covered this schedule, what's the easiest way for them to go online or find out the details, look at the schedule and say, "Okay, we wanna do this, this, and this."

What's the simplest way for them to do that?

- [Michele] There's a QR code on the poster.

- [Steve] Okay.

- [Michele] So you can, and that QR code will take you to a website with a complete calendar of events.

So we're really hoping for a great turnout for all of the things.

Come back both weekends.

- [Steve] Sure.

- [Michele] Or all three, be in the parade.

(laughs) - [Steve] Yeah, exactly.

Don't miss the parade.

- [Michele] And then come back for all of the activities that are gonna be going for (clears throat), excuse me, the first two weekends in December.

- [Steve] Yeah, and hopefully, I mean, depending, I guess it's always a double-edged sword, it'd be nice if maybe there would be just a little coating of snow, a little flurry or two during the event.

Although this year, the way the weather has been, who knows it might be 70 degrees on tree lighting day, which I guess wouldn't be terrible.

- [Michele] That wouldn't be terrible.

- [Steve] But it wouldn't be quite as Christmasy as we would anticipate.

- [Brian] We wanted to do some fire pits, but- - [Michele] Right.

(laughing) (all talking at once) - [Steve] Fans instead, yeah.

- [Michele] Right.

- [Steve] Yeah, but yeah, and I think the nice thing about this, and the way you described it, too, is just the range of participants, the people getting on board, what it means for the downtown to bring people there during the holidays, because traditionally when people back in, you know, years ago, that's where the shopping was done, people came downtown for things like this.

So it kind of brings that back together with the carriage rides, the tree lighting, all of those things.

Just making it like a wonderful experience for people at a very minimal cost.

Because obviously, most of this has no cost or is minimal.

And accessibility, there's parking around the downtown.

As we all know, parking's never perfect.

It is what it is.

But the reality is there's opportunity for people, can get there fairly easily.

If there's one thing you want people to remember about the event, is there something that comes to mind right away?

- [Michele] Oh, you know, the thing that comes to my mind is participate, you know?

Come and be a part of all of the wonderful things that are happening.

- [Steve] Yeah, okay.

Brian?

- [Brian] And family friendly.

You know, this is time for you to spend with the family and just come down and enjoy that, bring the young and the old.

I mean, it's just gonna be beautiful to light up downtown and have these events, that people, they're able to attend.

So again, we're generally starting five to eight o'clock at night on those weekends, and with that one Saturday being at four to eight.

So we're just so excited about what's happening with that.

And that concert will be from three to 4:30 on the 15th.

- [Steve] Great, and people can, like you say, you can pull up the QR code and do that.

If you probably just Google, "Downtown Bowling Green, BG Merry & Bright," you'll get to the right place eventually, too, so.

Well, thank you so much and thank you two for all the work you've put in this because obviously, you guys have put a lot of time in there, a lot of people behind you, they're putting in time, even as we speak.

As you mentioned, Brian, they're working downtown on how to string the lights right now, what's the best way to do it, that kind of thing.

So logistically, a lot of those things that people don't see that go on that make all of this possible, as well.

So thanks to those folks, as well, for the behind the scenes thing they do, as well.

But yeah, well, congratulations and best wishes on a great event with exactly the kind of weather you want, whatever that is.

And we'll find out.

So thank you again so much.

- [Brian] Thank you, Steve.

- [Michele] Thank you.

- Yeah, you can check us out at wbgu.org.

You can watch us every Thursday night at 8:00 PM on WBGU-PBS.

We will see you again next time.

Good night and good luck.

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