Friday night was a bit chilly in Geneva, but Lara Sisto insisted that hearts and spirits were still warm thanks to the annual Christmas Walk going on in the city’s downtown.
“I’m from Geneva and I come to this every year,” she said at the Christmas Walk. “If it’s the holidays I have to be here. I moved here in 2012 and I’ve been here every year since. I haven’t missed a year. It just feels very joyful – a lot of small-town community.”
The Geneva Chamber of Commerce sponsored the annual Christmas Walk on Friday, an event that continues to bring thousands to the downtown area in order to take part in a tradition that has spanned nearly seven decades.
Chamber staff added that there were no changes this year to the holiday event and that the traditions of the Candy Cane Parade and offering the first candy cane of the season to Mayor Kevin Burns, as well as the arrival of Santa Lucia – the Swedish symbol of the season who each year lights the Great Tree – were again celebrated Friday night, followed by the arrival of Santa Claus.
The Candy Cane Parade continues a tradition begun back around 2010 when the late Bob Untiedt, owner of Graham’s Chocolates in Geneva, began Bob’s Candy Cane Parade. It has continued every year since except once during the pandemic.
Untiedt’s daughter, Jayni Wunderlich, now the CEO of Graham’s Chocolates, said Friday before the walk that it remains a special moment for her and her family.
“While the parade has been around a while, we, as a shop, started pulling candy canes 31 years ago and it’s such a fun night, such a great way to celebrate Advent and the beginning of the Christmas season,” she said. “Geneva does such a good job of making such beautiful and fun events. Our candy cane pull has usually had the biggest crowd draw because of the iconic look of these canes being pulled in the old-fashion way.”
A local author, Susanna Palmer, has written a children’s book called “Jingle Hands” that celebrates the Geneva Christmas Walk and the candy cane pull. The book is dedicated to Bob Untiedt and includes Wunderlich as a character called Harmony the Elf.
Johanna Patterson, communications director for the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, spoke before the event and said the Christmas Walk “is something people put on their calendar. It’s kind of a Hallmark movie or a Norman Rockwell picture and you feel like you’re stepping back in time.”
“The merchants are open late, the town comes together, there’s chestnuts roasting and carolers on the street,” Patterson said. “There’s something for everyone, and I think the town just kind of comes alive. It’s only one night, and just feels like the opening of the holiday season.”
In the past few years, the event has drawn as many as 5,000 to 6,000 people, organizers said.
Shops and restaurants were open along Third Street in downtown Geneva offering special treats during the event on Friday evening.
Rachel Chiesa of Lincolnshire said her sister lives in Geneva and that coming to the local Christmas Walk “is a tradition.”
“We have to get a candy cane and then we do the Christmas tree lighting and we have to go shopping and also there is a snowball fight that the kids have to do,” she said. “We make a night of it every year.”
Bridgette Dawson of Geneva and her husband Joel said they have come to the event for “over 20 years.”
“We love the nativity, the parade, going to Graham’s obviously for the candy cane pull. It’s a lot of fun and going to the shops and getting to see everybody,” Bridgette Dawson said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
