Sunday, November 25, 2012
Hundreds lines up along St. Charles’ Main Street for lights, music and more lights as the Holiday Homecoming 2012 kicks off the Christmas season.
If you happened to be strolling through downtown St. Charles at midafternoon Saturday, you might have noticed the lawn chairs that seemed to spring up out of nowhere and multiply like rabbits up and down the Main Street bridge. So begins the newcomers’ introduction to the Electric Christmas Parade, a spirited, colorful community welcome to the holiday season. People packed along the sidewalks on the north and south sides of Main Street before the start, breathing out oohs and ahs with the passing of each of the Christmas-light-adorned floats throughout the parade, which lasted a little more than a half hour. St. Charles Patch invites you to add your own photos and videos to this story to create a gallery of images from the Electric …
Saturday, November 24, 2012
The 5:30 p.m. Electric Christmas Parade culminates Small Business Saturday and continues the Holiday Homecoming, the official start of St. Charles’ holiday season.
The 2012 St. Charles Holiday Homecoming continues today and culminates in the Electric Christmas Parade, which steps off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. Downtown visitors will be able to look at and buy Christmas trees along the east side of 1st Street, south of Route 64. Swans’ Christmas Trees will sell trees and garland throughout the holiday season in the downtown. Today is Small Business Saturday nationally, and the Downtown St. Charles Partnership has been encouraging residents to shop locally this holiday season. Saturday’s Holiday Homecoming activities continue with: All Holiday Homecoming events and activities are free of charge. The Electric Christmas Parade steps off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday with Downtown St. Charles …
Friday, November 23, 2012
Downtown St. Charles lit up for the holidays with Friday night's "Lighting of the Lights" ceremony in 1st Street Plaza. The Electric Christmas Parade steps off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday as the Holiday Homecoming continues.
Downtown St. Charles is dressed up for the holidays as Mayor Donald DeWitte, accompanied by his great niece, flipped the switch to illuminate 1st Street Plaza beneath hundreds of twinkling lights adorning the trees. Santa arrived with Mrs. Claus moments later. “Good evening St. Charles, and let me be the first to with you all a Merry Christmas!” DeWitte trumpeted to the crowd, which responded with cheers and applause. “I’m so happy to be here for this outstanding St. Charles tradition. The city is filled with people with such great community spirit, which is why I can’t think of a better place to celebrate the start of the holiday season than right here in St. Charles.” DeWitte applauded the members of the chorales from St. Charles North …
Tips for getting the gifts they want without having to hoof it from St. Charles to the North Pole. Small Business Saturday is a great time to start!
Santa’s awesome, but he doesn’t always deliver the hottest toys of the season on demand to St. Charles — no matter how nicely we ask. If the kids — or wannabe kids — in your life happen to have their hearts set on gifts that are hard to come by, it can be torturous running from store to store only to find what they really want just isn’t available. Whether your little girl has her sights on the latest Lalaloopsy, your son wants a Hot Wheels R/C Terrain Twister or that “big baby” in your life is yearning for a copy of Halo 4, here are some ideas for Small Business Saturday, which is Nov. 24, and how to track down what’s in demand without putting miles and miles on your vehicle in the process: If you hate ordering online and love the …
Lighting of the Lights is Friday, and the Electric Christmas Parade culminates Small Business Saturday as St. Charles marks the official start of its holiday season.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Lighting of the Lights is Friday, and the Electric Christmas Parade culminates Small Business Saturday as St. Charles marks the official start of its holiday season.
The Downtown St. Charles Partnership ushers in the Christmas season this week with the Holiday Homecoming — a two-day celebration that includes the Lighting of the Lights on Friday evening, Nov. 23, 2012, and the Electric Christmas Parade on Saturday night, Nov. 24, 2012. New to the Holiday Homecoming this year is a Christmas tree lot, which will be set up along the east side of 1st Street, south of Route 64. Swans’ Christmas Trees has been selling trees in the area for many years and will sell trees and garland throughout the holiday season in the downtown. Also new to the Holiday Homecoming is a free holiday movie Home Alone at 2 p.m. Friday at the Arcada Theatre’s big screen. The Lighting of the Lights ceremony is scheduled at 5 p.m. …
Monday, November 19, 2012
The number of St. Charles homes sold in October surges 38.5 percent from a year ago.
St. Charles detached, single-family home prices showed modest gains in October from a year ago, but the number sold in October surged 38.5 percent from 2011, according to the Mainstreet Organization of Realtors. The Mainstreet Organization of Realtors gets its statistics from Midwest Real Estate Data. St. Charles experienced the most dramatic percentage change in the number of homes sold in the Tri-Cities area, with an uptick of 38.5 percent in October 2012 over October 2011. The number of actual homes sold in October was 54, compared to the 39 sold in October 2011. The prices paid for those homes rose modestly: The average price of a detached, single-family home sold in October was $360,653, up 6 percent from a year ago; the median price …
Check out some of St. Charles' most popular pages and add your own suggestions.
The is a quick list in alphabetical order of a sampling of 50 of the countless Facebook pages representing St. Charles small businesses. Add your favorites in the comments section and we'll update our list with your suggestions.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
St. Charles economic development officials on Tuesday took brokers on a two-hour tour to show off 23 commercial properties, with stops at nine site.
If you happened to be in the new, temporary parking lot on 1st Street on Tuesday afternoon and wondered about the bus parked at its north end, it was part of a new tack in the city’s economic development efforts. Touted as the Broker Tour, members of the St. Charles Economic Development Department staff accompanied brokers on a ride around town to see 23 commercial properties that have office and other space available. The two-hour tour, which started at 3 p.m., included stops at nine of the properties where brokers could take a five-minute mini-tour of the site. St. Charles Economic Development Director Christopher Aiston said the intent is to showcase some of the property opportunities available in St. Charles. Inviting brokers to take a…
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
This year’s Lighting of the Lights and Electric Christmas Parade will mark the 20-year anniversary of the Downtown St. Charles Partnership.
The four founders of the Downtown St. Charles Partnership will serve as grand marshals of this year’s Electric Christmas Parade, part of the Holiday Homecoming that ushers in the city’s holiday season. The Downtown St. Charles Partnership on Tuesday announced that Jack Wagner, Jim Martin, Sharon Oie, and Dave Lencioni would serve as grand marshals for the parade. In the same release, the organization also provided more details about the parade and laid out the schedule of activities for Holiday Homecoming 2012 on Friday, Nov. 23, and Saturday, Nov. 24. Scheduled at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23, the Lighting of the Lights ceremony will be in the First Street Plaza and will be led by Mayor Donald DeWitte according to the release, which also notes …
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9:48 pm on Saturday, November 24, 2012
Toys R Us is on Randall Road. Learning Express Toys, if it was near Target, was closed. I thought Tuesday Morning near Butera closed as well. American Hobbies near Office Depot (or Office Max) closed. more ›