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December 2, 2014 • Headlines
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It didn’t matter that the weather cooperated because Teri Gardner’s tradition is to decorate her Batesville home for the holidays, inside and out, soon after Thanksgiving. MARY MATTINGLY PHOTO |
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Ed Krause gets help from his son with lighting clear spheres on his Batesville property. Many people took advantage of the weather over the weekend to decorate outside of their homes for the holidays. MARY MATTINGLY PHOTO |
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Visit ‘Santa on the Square’ Saturday in Versailles
Mary Mattingly
EDITOR
mmattingly@ripleynews.com
Versailles wants to spread Christmas spirit and cheer throughout downtown. Main Street Versailles has organized “Santa on the Square” for Saturday, December 6. There will be music, holiday food and very special guests, Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Steve Mathes, Versailles council member and a member of the Main Street committee, said, “This is another extension of the Main Street Versailles to get activity in the downtown area.” In September, the group held a “Cruise In” at the courthouse square to generate downtown activity, and Mathes said they were pleased with the turnout. The group has more ideas for the spring.
Other organizations have collaborated with the “Santa on the Square”event to make it special. The South Ripley Young Confederates will provide the sounds of Christmas, and the South Ripley Ministerial Association will present a live nativity. There will be plenty of goodies available. The Ripley County Humane Society is bringing fudge and candy to sell, along with some Christmas items, to add to the festivities. And, of course, Santa Claus has penciled in the date to make a visit. The Versailles Lions Club offered up their building for the jolly fellow so kids can line up and have their photo taken. Santa is bringing his wife, Mrs. Claus, with him too! Mathes said people are welcome to take their own photos of Santa and Mrs. Claus with children, or they will have someone take the photo and email it.
The festivities are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mathes encourages everyone to come out to catch the Christmas spirit. Main Street is currently operating under the auspices of the Town of Versailles but is applying for recognition as a Main Street organization through the state.
Black Friday...
Deals on TVs, housewares entice early shoppers
Mary Mattingly
EDITOR
mmattingly@ripleynews.com
Black Friday wasn’t so black this year, in part due to shopping the day before. Before carving the turkey or counting their blessings, many Southeastern Indiana residents headed to retail stores to gobble up sales on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Several of the major shopping chains and locally owned stores remained closed for the American holiday, but other chains in the area such as Goody’s, Dollar General and Walmart were open with special deals on Thursday.
MARY MATTINGLY PHOTO
Pictured left, a Batesville shopper didn’t wait in line Friday morning. He got a TV for $219.
The Dollar General stores in the area opened at 7 a.m. Thursday. The Osgood and Versailles store clerks said they were busy Thursday morning, but it died down toward the afternoon. Sales on toys (buy one and get 75 percent off another), small kitchen appliances, and bath and body sets were some of the sale items that lured in customers, the store clerks in Osgood and Versailles said.
Danielle McQueen of Milan was finishing up her holiday shopping Friday morning and found a lot of good deals, she said. It’s become her tradition to take off on Thursday to shop and Friday. Taja Bryant of Batesville was also shopping Friday morning for her children and had her hands full of items at Shopko.
Mary Hollow of Greendale skips the traditional Thanksgiving gathering and heads to the store. Her children have odd hours and it works out well, she said. She was operating on a few hours of sleep as she, her daughter and granddaughter hit the stores Thursday night and stayed until 3 a.m. While a Consumer Problem Survey cited 44 percent go shopping without a list, and 26 percent aren’t sure where they want to go in advance, Hollow wasn’t one of them. “Oh we have a plan!” On Thursday night, she and her daughter stood at the plastic wrapped bins and shelves ready to grab and buy as soon as the sale began.
It was actually a pretty calm weekend to kick off the Christmas season, compared to some years past throughout the country. In 2012, a scuffle erupted at two Kmarts in Indianapolis. Shoppers waited in line overnight to get vouchers for a plasma TV, and some shoppers began selling their vouchers and others were too late to get them. Police escorted the unruly customers away from the stores. In 2012 two died in Florida after a shooting over a parking spot at a Walmart.
At the local Dollar General stores on Friday, workers had time to restock.
The National Retail Federation expected 25.6 million shoppers during the Thanksgiving openings. Last Thanksgiving was the first time some major retailers opened on Thursday, including Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Macy’s and Kohl’s. In 2013, Black Friday shopping netted $57.4 million, down slightly from 2012. Early reports indicate Black Friday sales were down about 10 percent from last year, but Thanksgiving sales were up 24 percent.
Black Friday, the kick off to the official holiday shopping season, is called that because it signifies profit (as opposed to being” in the red”) for retailers. Black Friday is followed by Small Business Saturday, a way to encourage local shopping. Monday was “CyberMonday” the online version of Black Friday with major discounts from retailers. One in four were expected to shop online.
