Plains gets festive with stroll

Santa Claus, who dabbles in law enforcement in his spare time, took time to make inquiries about the naughtiness and nicety qualities of numerous children in downtown Plains Saturday.

Father Christmas was part of the Winter Stroll and Scavenger Hunt in Plains, where more than a dozen businesses participated in the special annual holiday event. The winners of the scavenger hunt in the adult category were Janet Brandon, Amy Hill and her sister, Ashley Hill. For the children's class, it was 11-year-old Makaylyn Reinhardt. All winners were from Plains. Seventy-two adults and 31 children participated in the scavenger hunt. The total value of the donated gifts was around $800, said Kim Revier, owner of Garden, Gift & Floral, one of business participants in the scavenger hunt.

"This is fun. It puts people in a festive mood and I think people have been waiting to shop and are doing it today because it's a community event," said Kayla Lilja, one of the main coordinators of the event and the assistant manager at Garden, Gift & Floral. The store had sales and "Reindeer Games," where small paper reindeer prints were hidden around the store and if found, the finder got a discount on that product.

The hunt also included: Bean Bug, Mountain West Clothing, Wild Plains Nursery, Mangy Moose Mercantile, Gambles, 406 Outlet/Colleen's Country Store, Posh Hippy, Little Bitterroot Thrift Store, Little Bitterroot Outlet Store, Llano Theater, Plains Drug Store, Wildhorse Mercantile, NAPA, Wildhorse Feed & Farm, and Studs Building & Home. Each business donated items for the contest. To compete, participants got a sticker from each business. Once completed, the card was turned in with the participant's name and number. Participants could earn additional entries by taking an individual or group selfie at different businesses and putting them on social media.

Last year's Winter Stroll was for two hours on an evening, but some of the organizers liked that it was during the day this year, that it was longer and on a Saturday. "We were worried about it not being an evening event, but I think it was more family friendly this way," said Erika Lawyer, owner of Mountain West Clothing. "I thought the night was more like a date night, but today's was more like Christmas morning," said Emmalie VonHeeder, who owns the Bean Bug Cafe with Suzy VonHeeder.

Nearly all the stores involved in the Winter Stroll had sales and treats for customers. Some had special drawings. Gambles had a drawing for a four-burner charbroil griddle valued at $429. Of the 25 entries, the winner was Ryan Spiekermeier of Plains. Most of Gambles employees dressed for the occasion. John Lemro donned a candy cane outfit, Sharon Niemi was Mrs. Claus, Geni Deschamps was a snowman, and Kelly VonHeeder was a Christmas tree.

Plains Drug Store was once again visited by the Grinch, aka Eli Rinker, who toyed with children and handed out goodie bags. Rinker's wife, Kayla, wore the Grinch outfit for about 20 minutes at the start because her husband was running late. Eli said some kids approached him without a problem while others kept their distance. "I wasn't prepared for the screamer," said Rinker, who said the kid was barely in the store door when he spotted the Grinch and started screaming loudly. "He scares me a little," said 11-year-old John McNamara, who had to jump for his goodie bag.

The Llano Theater had a free movie showing of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and held an 'Ugly Christmas Sweater' contest, said Angela Gonzales, the theater manager. She said that one man, three women, one child, and one dog entered the contest, which was to be voted on by Facebook, although no winner had been selected by press time. The Sinclair Gas Station held a drawing for a Frigidaire freezer. More than 300 people entered, said Monica Weedeman, the manager. Santa picked out the winning name, Julie Cleveland, of Plains.

The Bean Bug and Mountain West Clothing designed the station setting for Santa and his elf, Kendall Spurr, outside the store, where they greeted people for over an hour and a half before moving on to the Mangy Moose. They also roamed around the downtown area talking with kids. Cafe owners VonHeeder and VonHeeder converted their establishment to the "Whoville Bean Bug." The Cancer Network of Sanders County had a 50/50 drawing, collecting $323. The winner donated it back to the organization.

Mangy Moose continued to receive the children's coloring contest entries while Kris Kringle and his elf met with children at the store. Elf Kendall Spurr has helped Santa every year and gets into the Christmas spirit early in the season. "I love doing it. I just like to spread the Christmas spirit," said Kendall, who gave each child a bag of treats and a sucker. About 50 kids - and even a few adults - told Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Colton Barton, 7, asked for a real four-wheeler while his sister, Addy, 9, wants a bobsled. Santa noted that some adults came up with some unique requests. Erin Miller of Plains asked for a new couch, a new deck, and a new driveway. Courtney Defay of Plains said she'd settle for a million dollars.

Avery Hale, 3, of Plains asked Santa why he wore glasses and told him all about her stuffed raccoon toy. She also told him that her dad had hit a deer the previous night. Little Colt Firestone would fist bump and high five Santa's elf, but would not get close to St. Nick, even when he offered his big reindeer bell. Liam Sawyer Smith found Santa outside of the Mangy Moose and followed him in. "He stopped him on the street. He can sniff Santa out," said Megan Smith, his mother. The 4-year-old Smith told Santa all about his Elf on the Shelf, which he named "Flick."

"I think it was a great turnout," said Lawyer, who added that she felt it was successful and she'd like to make it even better next year, maybe with a hayride or having the school choir perform. Lilja said that there aren't that many community things to do in Plains, but the Winter Stroll is good to have on the calendar. "It's not just about the sales," said Lilja, "but I think it increases the Christmas spirit."