Downtown events across Georgia chase one goal. They want people off the highways and back on paved sidewalks, filling storefronts, cafés, galleries, and boutiques. Chambers of commerce and merchant groups test ideas to pull crowds from the comfort and convenience of living rooms and four-lane roads. Most try to stir up presence with lights, parades, and outdoor street markets. Clayton stands out in this work and proves it with Christmas in Downtown Clayton.
A city-wide Black Friday event
The Clayton Merchants and Business Association drew a Black Friday plan with local shop owners and turned the city into a long sweep of music, pine garland, and open doors. The whole town joined the push.
Storefronts became stages in the plan. The merchants accepted an invitation from the CMBA to compete for the best decorated windows. They dressed their glass in red ribbon, evergreen, gold, and tinsel. Sonya Shook, president of the business guild, helped shape the city-wide effort, working with merchants to keep the idea consistent across Main Street. The doors opened early Friday with classic carols from speakers hung from rafters and walls. The sound occasionally spilled into the street and pulled shoppers from one doorway to the next.
Actors dressed as characters from A Christmas Carol stepped into the flow of people. They greeted families, posed for pictures, and handed out flyers for Dickens in Dillard, where visitors can enjoy live music and performances, Victorian characters, and a host of family activities, from storytelling at Cratchit’s Corner to photos with Santa and a charming holiday puppet show.
Claws and Paws wins first place
Some merchants offered Black Friday swag bags and early-arrival promotions. Reeves Department Store handed out one hundred bags before 9:01 a.m., with people lining up as early as 7:30. The CMBA raised the stakes with awards for window displays, which pushed shops to bring their best work. When the judges finished their walk, they posted the results: Claws and Paws in first place, Shady Creek Expeditions in second, and Madison on Main in third.
The first-place winner, Claws and Paws, lived up to the hype. The store glittered with Christmas décor and pet-themed murals, and its main draw was a large Santa-style photo display, perfect for taking pictures with pets and capturing them.
The town kept its own rhythm through the night. Sam the Bagpiper took the street from five to seven. Boy Scouts set luminaries along the sidewalks, lining Main Street with paper bags and electric candles. Their glow settled on crosswalks and doorways and gave the street a runway sheen.
The Rabun Festival or Trees and Holiday Extravaganza
Yet the highlight of the event came from the yearly fundraiser, The Rabun Festival of Trees and Holiday Extravaganza, which helps support the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia. Local businesses donated decorated Christmas trees for a silent auction. Each fir came dressed in satin, bead silver, bells, angels, or hometown ornaments. Shoppers placed bids in the hope that they might cart home trees with stories behind their branches.
Santa sat for families in a velvet chair grand enough to support the dignity of a visiting diplomat of his stature. He patiently listened while children offered their list, as parents held their phones and waited for the perfect photo opportunity.
Merchants kept the communication steady prior to the event and afterward. “I have had several businesses send me their sales for the weekend,” Shook wrote on the CMBA Facebook page, in an effort to help spread the word. “If you need a sale posted, please send. Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope everyone has a wonderful week of sales.”
Tidings of comfort and joy
Shoppers filled the sidewalks as the lights came on overhead. The windows glowed. Music drifted past the shops and toward the hills. People stepped out of stores with bags in both hands. Clayton made its point with craft, sound, contest, charity, and the presence of a town that answered the call.
Events across Georgia try to draw feet to Main Street. Clayton does it with creativity, energy, and a small pinch of Santa’s Christmas magic.
