Acoustic Christmas songs from Friends of Frosty and the smell of bonfires filled the air Wednesday in Community Park for Effingham’s fifth annual Walking through Wonderland event.
After hundreds of visitors walked through the city’s Christmas light display that’s usually only visible by car, children and families could decorate free cookies, get free hot chocolate, visit with Santa, make Christmas crafts, get their faces painted and visit with local food and dessert vendors, such as Marj’s Macarons and Macklin Meadow Kettlecorn.
At the start of the light display, children were handed a golden ticket to exchange at the end for a free toy from the Effingham Police Department through the First Responders Children’s Foundation Toy Express. The nonprofit delivers toys to over 100,000 children in over 150 communities across the country.
Aurora Poulos, Andrew Poulos, Kora Poulos, 9, and Theo Poulos, 5, had gotten Hometown Pretzels, hot chocolate and cookies after walking through the lights.
Since the Poulos family is four members, Aurora said they look forward to seeing the light display of the four snowmen.
“It’s a snowmen family,” said Aurora. “The ice rink was cool. I do love that, how they have the lights in the ground. That’s clever.”
Kora enjoys seeing the nativity scene light display, while Theo likes seeing the penguins throwing snowballs.
“They’re all good,” said Aurora. “We like it a lot.”
“Awesome pretzels, awesome food, awesome ambiance,” said Andrew.
Shannon Niebrugge, Adam Niebrugge and their son, Anthony, 8, were eyeing Macklin Meadow Kettlecorn and Hometown Pretzels after they finished walking through the displays.
“We’ve been coming out ever since they started having this event down here at Community Park,” said Shannon. “We do it every year.”
This year, Anthony is asking Santa Claus for a drone. The family also makes cookies every year, including special ones for Santa.
Even though walking through the lights was magical for the Niebrugge family, Shannon commented on how everything for the event was wonderful.
“Everything that they have up here is pretty amazing,” she said. “We look forward to it every year.”
This was Marjeana Livingston’s first time at Walking Through Wonderland – her first time both visiting the event and selling at it.
“Visit Effingham invited me,” said Livingston.
Livingston first started making macarons four years ago and started selling them at Effingham’s Farmers Markets two years ago. She had lots of customers visit her booth on Wednesday, a lot of them being regulars from the Farmers Market.
For Walking through Wonderland, Livingston made macarons with different Christmas designs, such as the Grinch and “Merry Christmas.”
“He [the Grinch] dried overnight, and I put him together last night so he would work,” said Livingston. “You pipe the white first, and then you pipe the hat, and then you just do the green.”
Livingston reflected both the Poulos and the Niebrugge families’ sentiments about how magical the night was.
“This is pretty cool,” she said.