Holiday Festival events returned Dec. 4 to familiar venues with familiar activities last weekend after alterations a year ago due to the pandemic.
Vendor booths, shops and activities were packed with people from the city, Miami University and throughout the region who visited the college town to ring in the holidays.
The popular Talawanda Band Boosters Craft Market was conducted in the Oxford Community Arts Center as it has for many years, and the evening scene shifted to the Uptown parks for the usual fun family activities.
Of course, Santa Claus put in an appearance at both venues to hear kids’ holiday wishes. He made his usual grand entrance on a fire truck for the evening visit, joining with new mayor Bill Snavely in throwing the switch to turn on all the lights in the parks and create a festival atmosphere.
The portable ice skating rink returned to the celebration and proved to be popular with young and old alike. That part of the festival was provided by the Miami Activities and Programming club which is mainly responsible for events on the campus, but does take part in community activities to let the student members interact with Oxford residents.
Live entertainment was provided throughout the evening with community and campus musicians and singers taking the stage. A student at the Oxford Music Academy was on stage just before Santa’s arrival Uptown in the evening and closed her portion of the program singing “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” just minutes before the fire truck arrived.
While the line for kids to visit with Santa in the evening was long, kids and parents were patient as the right jolly ol’ elf made sure every child got to tell him their gift wishes.
There was also a line for the horse-drawn wagon rides around the parks with a brightly-decorated rig from Ro-Da-O Farms and everyone enjoyed the time waiting their turn laughing and talking and being in the holiday spirit.
The ride around the parks in the covered wagon pulled by two horses was an enjoyable time for many.
Ro-Da-O Farms gets its name from owners Robin and David Oda, who farm in Arcanum in Darke County. This is a busy time of the year for the Odas who have ten horses and ten carriages, including an old Doc’s Buggy, a surrey, a sleigh and show wagon.
Robin Oda handles the loading and unloading of passengers while David drives the wagon. He had no count of the number of times he drove the wagon around the parks that night and joked he did not want to think about it. The night capped off a busy day for them as they took teams to two other communities for holiday celebrations as well as hauling Christmas trees on their tree farm.
They offer horse-drawn vehicles for many occasions including weddings, funerals, parties, festivals and church events in addition to rides such as the appreciative crowd at the holiday festival.
He said the business is run by his wife who handles the bookings and other parts of the business and just drives. He enjoys it, however.
“I used to show horses, but that gets expensive. This way I get paid for my hobby,” he said. The holidays are a busy time for the Odas but the next couple months will be slow. “January and February are slow but we get a lot in the summer. Our first spring thing is Reds Opening Day.”
Their website offers pictures of various events and notes that twice a year, Ro-Da-O Farm hosts a fun event called “Horse’n Around on the Farm” for around 150 local visitors with horseback rides, hayrides, and carriage rides. The event normally takes place in the last Saturday of April and October. Ro-Da-O Farm has also participated each year in the annual Greenville Horse Parade, where they involve their family.
The Odas have been married for 32 years and have five children and eight grandchildren. He has been around horses since he was 2 and she got her first pony at age 6.
The Miami Activities and Programming club had a table set up near the ice skating rink and were handing out free hot chocolate until they ran out.
Club President Nina Emlemdi explained the group has been around for many years with the responsibility of providing activities for students, but they expand that into the community for special events like the Holiday Festival.
“We are an 80-plus member Miami organization with a 12-member executive board and two advisors,” Emlemdi said. “We plan events around sports, bring comedians to campus. We plan about three events a week.”
Director of Collaboration Gabriela Giannuzzi took leadership of the Holiday Festival event and said it is one of her favorite events of the year. They operate through the Office of Student Activities.
Both are Miami seniors and both were attending the final MAP event of the semester and of their roles in the group as the new executive board is in place to take over the second semester. Giannuzzi said they have planned much of the spring activities already, however, including baseball games and other events.
The university website describes their role by saying: “Miami Activities & Programming is a student-run organization that hosts energetic, memorable and student-focused events to enhance and celebrate the Miami experience. MAP events are an integral part of campus life and each semester is packed with both signature events and new, innovative events that students love.”
The executive board includes directors in various areas including arts and entertainment, graphic design, marketing, RedHawk events, series and special events. Signature events are listed as Welcome Weekend, Family Weekend, Fallin’ For Goggin, I Love You Beary Much, SpringFest, movies and comedians.
Giannuzzi said she likes working the off-campus activities because it lets her meet people in the Oxford community she would not otherwise meet and they are always on the lookout for new things. Their coordination and planning efforts may often relate to sports, but could help them later in their working lives.
“We are very adaptable. We can use this in any profession we get into,” she said. “I like this partnership. It’s good to see people in the community.”
Emlemdi echoed that, saying, “It’s good to see people in the community at events like this.”
Santa’s arrival drew an appreciative audience and he and mayor Snavely threw the giant switch to light up the square.
Parks and Recreation Director Casey Wooddell asked Santa for a Ho-ho-ho and he responded by saying “All you had to do was ask,” followed with a booming HO-HO-HO that reverberated throughout the parks.
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