Market St. Madness starts Saturday

This weekend The Bowen House, Desire 2 Inspire, and the First Presbyterian Church will be hosting the second annual Market St. Madness event.

Over the past few years, the three organizations have been getting involved in the community, collaborating with each other to create a niche on their little section on Market Street.

“We’re really excited about art and culture here on this street, so [Ruling Elder Susan Dietz, of the First Presbyterian Church], [Dani Bell, Event Coordinator for The Bowen House] and I got the idea to collaborate and do Market Street Madness,” said Jesse Russell, Director of Desire 2 Inspire. “It’s been wonderful, we’ve really raised attendance and things have been great.”

This year there are many exciting events following the Christmas Parade, which is scheduled to step off at 2 p.m. After the parade, the Logan High School Chamber Choir Singers, who are acting as grand marshals for that event, will make an appearance at The Bowen House, performing for approximately half an hour.

In addition to the choir, there will be other live musical performances at The Bowen House, including Mrs. Kendig and the eighth grade choir, Therese and Steve Karnes, Jeff and Kathy Crislers, the Hocking Hills Children’s Chorus, the Hocking Hills United Methodist Church Choir, and other holiday music.

According to Russell, that section of Market Street is always flooded with people after the parade as revelers search for someplace to go. He is excited that the visitors will have the chance to visit The Bowen House for the beautiful Festival of Trees event, which will feature more than 20 Christmas trees decorated with a wide variety of themes from fun to stunning.

Also available with be the First Presbyterian Church’s Good Neighbor Gift Market, and an open house by Desire 2 Inspire featuring the talents of Kelby Primmer, Trevor Meece, and Russell himself along with several other special guests.

Russell hopes that it will be a nice day for the festivities, though he added that it would be nice if there were snow to set the mood for the Christmas themes.

Regardless of the weather, Russell stated that they will do everything in their power to make this even the best that it can be.

“We want to set the precedent for the next year,” said Russell. “At The Bowen House, we have a whole new board, who are very excited about new things and new events, so they’re going to be here. We want to set the tone for the next year, for Market Street and Downtown and everywhere to let people know that we do have exciting things and fun things that we can do, and you can be a part of it if you want to.”

Russell stated that one of the top priorities of the event is to promote the arts and to share how art and music can change lives for the better.

“I think sports are very relevant in this town, and that’s a good thing, but I think art is just as important, if not more so,” said Russell. “So that’s my mission, I want to make art, music, and theater the most prevalent thing in this town because I think it’s been lost in most towns. It creates more of an open mind, a creative mind, and the people that have changed our world have been artists and creators.”

The Bowen House will open [rst on Saturday immediately following the Christmas Parade, with the Desire 2 Inspire open house beginning at 4 p.m. and the First Presbyterian Church Good Neighbor Gift Market starting at 6 p.m. All three events will end at 9 p.m. on Saturday, and reopen on Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.