By Delainey Muscato
St. Bonaventure University
Bemus Point, NY is hosting their first annual Light Up the Point community event, Saturday December 10. Amy Reed, a retired art teacher and owner of Lakeside Arts and Furniture in Bemus Point, spoke with The Villager about the core of Light Up the Point is to bring people together to support what Bemus has to offer. Light Up the Point stands to support community-mindedness, enhance the Christmas spirit, and bring businesses together.
The business owners and volunteers involved realized the need for the holiday celebration in this quaint village. After a few weeks of hard work and dedication, area businesses submitted the plans to the Village Board on November 15. At the village meeting, they went through each step of the process to help the event run as smoothly as possible. They discussed the parade route, garbage pickup, safety, and making sure to block off the necessary parts of the roads. The event was approved.
To start the celebration, The Bemus Point Inn Restaurant will be having a ribbon cutting ceremony at 4pm to announce the opening of their new drive thru “Buns on the Run.” Bemus Points’ new mayor, Jeff Molnar, will be there and all are welcome to help celebrate. “Buns on the Run” will officially open on Monday December 12th and will be open Monday through Friday 6am – 2pm.
Many businesses in the area will be holding special sales that day until 5pm. The parade line up begins at the tennis courts on Sunnyside Drive between 4:45-5pm and it will continue down Main Street to Lakeside Drive where the Tree Lighting ceremony with Santa will take place next to The Fish. Everyone, including kids, pets, wagons, and golf carts are encouraged to participate. They will light candles and continue the festivities on Lakeside Drive in front of EBC with carolers, refreshments, and crafts. Crackerjack Farms will be on hand to offer sleigh rides from 5-7pm.
Residents and businesses are encouraged to have their Christmas lights on full display and to participate in the festivities. The vision is to involve as many people as possible to help foster that community feel, not just for the holidays, but all year round.
This is the first time they’ve ever done a Christmas event in Bemus Point, so the plans for this year are simple. Though there will not be local artisans or individual sellers at this inaugural event, the committee looks forward to implementing this in the coming years. They are excited for the future and hope to see it significantly grow and flourish. “I’m most excited for the onset of what we hope to be an annual tradition,” Reed said. There are a lot of possibilities they hope to add to the event as it evolves. The committee wants to offer more food options, live music, and involve local artisans and craft makers. Reed ended by saying, “We see it as a great possibility for a lot of expansion”.