Jingle Bell Jubilee Take Two
Jingle Bell Jubilee Take Two
OLEAN – The Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce’s first Jingle Bell Jubilee held last Friday was a great success! A holiday event featuring many activities and events (the holiday market, carolers, dance groups, wreath creation class, Shop Raffle Drawing, Sips of the Season, make and take craft, horse and wagon rides, cocoa and cookie crawl, decorate the tree contest, cookie decorating, and even a Rudolph run), the Jingle Bell Jubilee will be back at Lincoln Park this Friday, December 10th from 4:30-9:00pm.
What’s New This Friday? Although the restaurants/taverns throughout the area will be competing against each other to sell the most popular holiday drink through the ‘Sips of the Seasons’ challenge, GOACC will join in the fun and serve up a Holiday Mulled Wine and select beers at the Jubilee in the Bistro at Lincoln Park.
Get Your Cookies and Run! Two separate mini events will also be held in conjunction with the Jubilee. The Cookie and Cocoa Crawl is where attendees will redeem their cookie vouchers at 5 locations as they crawl along Union Street under the holiday lights. They may start or end wherever, but an additional stop will be at the Jingle Bell Jubilee under the pavilion at pop-up vendor, Crystal’s Confections, where that voucher will get you a sugar cookie with small container of frosting and a knife to decorate at the Jubilee or at home. The fee to crawl is $10/individual or family of four for $30. To register, please go online to shop.oleanny.com or stop in the Greater Olean Area Chamber office to sign up.
Run Run Rudolph 5K participants will leave Four Mile Brewing Co. at 6:00pm, winding their way through the streets of Olean to the roundabout at Main Street, then under the holiday lights on North Union Street to Lincoln Park. The fee to register for the run is $20. There will be no official time kept for this festive frolic. To register, please call 716-372-4433 with participant information or go online to https://bit.ly/3o5yaCV.
How the Jubilee Started: In one of the most famous lines from the mid-1980s television show, “The A-Team,” leader Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith (George Peppard) declares, “I love it when a plan comes together.” GOACC took an idea from 2020, outlined it in a meeting back in late September 2021, and created, scheduled, enlisted, lined up activities, vendors and programs, and in 61 days unveiled the Jingle Bell Jubilee.
“To say it has been an incredibly busy two months is a big understatement!” said Meme K. Yanetsko, GOACC COO. “Not only did we host our annual dinner and our holiday parade, but staff had to do their ‘normal’ activities such as sales, bookkeeping, membership and other event duties during these last two months. The normal procedure is to unveil a new event with at least 6-8 months of planning - for this event, that lead time was considerably shorter!”
Erica Dreher, GOACC Membership Services Manager added, “We are so proud of our community, our members – many have stepped up and became sponsors, became vendors, donated items – the support has been tremendous and we want to thank all for their involvement.”
The schedule for the Jubilee is as follows:
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10TH
Festival of Trees
4:00-7:00pm
The Festival of Trees is where ten non-profit organizations are chosen to come decorate one of the trees. The groups will decorate it that night, December 10th. Each tree will be photographed and then placed on the Chamber’s Facebook page to be auctioned off. Final bids will be tallied on Wednesday, December 15th. Monies bid on each tree will go back to the respective tree decorator organization and the winning bid will get to take home the tree!
Holiday Market
4:30-9:00pm
The pavilion at Lincoln Park will be transformed into a holiday marketplace with vendors galore. Confirmed to date: Christie’s Boutique, Rusty Rooster, AnnMarie’s Baklava, Burch Custom Woodworks, Studio4East, and many more.
GS Craft for Kids
4:30-9:00pm
Girl Scouts of Western New York will be at the Jubilee both nights, providing a craft for kids to do as well as having membership information and sign-ups available. FREE!
Hearty Soups/Stews
4:30-9:00pm
Firefly Bagels makes soup as well! They will be on location both nights serving up hot cocoa, coffee, soup and some other goodies.
Horse & Wagon Rides
5:00-7:00pm
Hillview Stables, formerly known as Mohr’s Breezy Acres, will provide horse and wagon rides with their horses named Tallie and Tori. FREE!
Music Organized by Olean Theatre Workshop
5:30-8:00pm
Olean Theatre Workshop has scheduled area groups to sing holiday carols including the Workshop Kids, the Olean High School Select Chorus, OTW “Godspell” and others.
QAC Craft Make & Take
6:00-8:15pm
The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts will be set up, offering a family photo craft, a series of kids make-n-take activities, and an adult make-n-take activity. FREE
Jingle Bell Jubilee RAFFLE DRAWING
8:10pm
A fundraising raffle to help benefit the Santa Claus Lane Parade will be held the night of the Jubilee, December 10th. Tickets are $25 or three for $50 with the following prizes: $2,500, $2,000, and $1,500. Tickets can be purchased at the Chamber office, 301 North Union Street, Olean or by connecting with GOACC volunteers and committee members. Tickets are also available for purchase online at shop.oleanny.com.
The Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce will also have a retail booth where they will be selling raffle tickets, the 2022 Squirrel Calendars, holiday light family four packs, and other select merchandise.
GOACC officials would like to stress that although all Jubilee activities are outside, that we are still in the midst of a public health crisis and standard precautions need to followed (6-foot distancing, mask use, handwashing) to all festival patrons. The Jingle Bell Jubilee is also a celebration of #betterdaysahead. The event is a continuation of celebrating how the area has come together in the last 18 months, all the frontline staff and their dedication, as well as in memory of all those that we’ve lost during the last several months. For more information or questions, please contact GOACC at 716-372-4433 or email santa@oleanny.com.