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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Things to do this weekend, Dec. 24 & 25

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Above / Thanks for your gifts, small or large, silver or gold! Pennies and pocket change add up to dollars when they’re tossed into the Salvation Army Red Kettles. Thanks to all the Bell Ringers this holiday season! 

Remember! Springtime, not snow time, is a better time to welcome a new pet into your home. Adorable live animals don’t make the best gifts. Give a gift certificate for a live animal so the owner can select his or her own pet, advises Greg Gordon of Dog Patch, Naperville’s original pet store. Dog Patch Pet & Feed is located at 1108 E. Ogden and is open until 8PM on Friday and 4PM on Saturday. Find your rescue dog at Dog Patch and everything else you need for other pets, too. If Santa leaves money in your stocking, talk to Greg about cool reptiles. For more info, visit www.dogpatchpets.com.

Celebrate the season safely.  

Scroll down… This page is linked to a few last-minute holiday happenings as the biggest shopping season of the year dwindles down to its final day!

Looking for great gift ideas? Consider a poetic list that includes four items: 

Something you want. Something you need. Something to wear. Something to read.

Above / The Santa House along the Riverwalk is open! Hours for the public are 4 to 8PM Friday, Dec. 23. Then Santa’s helper packs up to head to the North Pole to get ready to help for the big international flight on Christmas Eve. Click here for the story of the 2016 Holiday Tree set where the Dandelion Fountain usually flows when it’s warm along the Riverwalk.

Friday and Saturday

Find the Grinch & Grow Your Heart 3 Sizes– Business Hours  | Free (now thru Dec. 24)
Begin at Anderson’s Bookshop – 123 W. Jefferson Ave. Naperville, IL 60540
To start, stop by Anderson’s Bookshop and pick up a Grinch “Bingo” Playing Card, then visit independent merchants displaying the red IndieBound Naperville sign and find the Grinch!  Visit 12 businesses to have the card stamped and enter your card to win prizes at 1PM Wed., Dec. 28, when the Grinch will greet friends at Anderson’s.

Thanks for supporting your local business community whenever possible!

Then find Santa! Santa! and Santa’s helpers everywhere!  Take note and check your list twice for Santa events all over town! Click here to see Santa’s local schedule!


Bill Anderson and Alex Anderson wish you good tidings for Christmas and a happy New Year!

Oswald’s Pharmacy 9AM-8PM Weekdays / 9AM-6PM Sat. / 10AM-4PM Sun. |  $$$ Gifts
Naperville Plaza – Washington St at Gartner Rd  Naperville, IL 60540
Open daily, Oswald’s Pharmacy is chock full of gift items, stocking stuffers, wrapping paper, greeting cards, specialty candies, chocolates and more for the holidays. Ozzie even boasts super sales that he’s calling “holiday steals.”  The toy section includes Melissa and Doug, Thomas the Tank Engine, Playmobil, Leggos and Ty plush animals. The extensive line of gifts includes Willow Tree figurines, games and puzzles.

And, yes, they have a full-service pharmacy, full-service U.S. Post Office and the largest selection of lift chairs in the Chicagoland area.  For more info, click here.

More Events, Events, Events and thanks for supporting the arts.

Note! And while you’re in Naperville Plaza picking up last-minute items at Casey’s Foods (Casey’s is open until 4PM Christmas Eve), listen for the Salvation Army Bell Ringers. Every little gift and pocket change helps.

Thanks for helping to fill the red kettles throughout the nation.


Christkindlmarket at Naper Settlement – Open at 11AM every day through Dec. 24 | Free Admission
Naper Settlement – 523 S. Webster St Naperville, IL 60540
Stroll the museum grounds and experience an open air German-style marketplace.  Click here for hours and special dates.

Naper Lights in the evening all through the holidays!

Naper Lights5PM | Free
Naper Settlement – 523 S. Webster St Naperville, IL 60540
Stroll the museum grounds and experience an expanded magical holiday lights celebration! Presented by Naperville Sunrise Rotary, the display features a number of large holiday-themed figures and lighted trees. For more information on Naper Lights, visit www.naperlights.com.

Free-will donations to Naperville Sunrise Rotary are welcomed. Funds raised will be used to address unmet needs and help support local, county and international projects that address health, safety, education and mentorship of young people.

This year,  Naper Lights is enhanced by Christkindlmarket Naperville at Naper Settlement, now through Christmas Eve. The bustling marketplace of wooden huts with candy cane-striped canopies is reminiscent of the original Christkindlmarket in Nuremberg, Germany.

On Sat., Dec. 24, both events at Naper Settlement close at 4PM.

Downtown Naperville Gift Certificates

Just steps from Naper Settlement, shopping and dining (and DNA Gift Cards) in downtown Naperville will offer last-minute solutions to gift selection and a time to explore the city’s central business district all decked out for the holidays, too. Enjoy the grand illumination with twinkling white lights every evening!

And consider that Downtown Naperville Gift Card again and again. Every card is especially thoughtful for its flexibility, allowing the recipient to choose to use it at more than 150 downtown shops, restaurants and spas.

Downtown Naperville gift cards come packaged in an attractive gift card jacket, and upon request, can be boxed and bowed when purchased in person at the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce on business days, but they’re closed for the holidays.

On Dec. 24, DNA Gift Cards are  available at Pinot’s Palette.

Gift Idea… Give an experience

Give gift certificates for an experience in the New Year such as a painting party at Pinot’s Palette or Pottery Bayou, both located in downtown Naperville.

Perhaps give memberships to places such as Naper Settlement, DuPage Children’s Museum or Naperville Art League. Or give music lessons available at Ellman’s Music Center.

Or give special certificates for a pair of tickets or an entire table to the West Suburban Irish Emerald Dinner on Sat., Feb. 25 or Little Friends 41st Annual Benefit Auction on Sat., March 4 or some other charity gala in the New Year.

The staff at Quigley’s Irish Pub wishes you a very happy holiday season. Note keepsake “Pictures with Santa and the Leprechaun” return on the second Sunday in December 2017. And New Year’s Eve Dublin Time will be celebrated from 3 to 7PM Sat., Dec. 31, 2016.  Quigley’s Irish Pub is located at 43 E. Jefferson. Sláinte!


Eat-Local2
Plan ahead! Naperville Restaurant Week is slated for Jan. 27 through Feb. 9, 2017. Give holiday gift certificates to restaurants.

Dine Around Naperville! Discover more than 260 delicious places to dine in or out at www.dinenaperville.com. And 40 of the eateries are throughout downtown Naperville where there are plenty of shopping opportunities in between meals.

Looking to dine out on Christmas Day? Try SugarToad in the Hotel Arista or one of the restaurants in Embassy Suites, Marriott or other Naperville hotels.

Remember! A number of Naperville restaurants and entertainment venues also are hosting special New Year’s Eve events.

More Events, Events, Events and thanks for supporting the arts!

Friday

Flamenco Dancers & Live Guitars at Meson Sabika – 6:30PM | $$$ Drinks & Dinner
Meson Sabika – 1350 Aurora Ave. – Naperville, IL 60540

Saturday 

Civic Plaza along the Riverwalk.

Happy Chanukah!  Eight days of Chanukah (also Hanukkah) begin at nightfall on Dec. 24, 2016. On this first evening, a candle is placed into the holder at the far right of the menorah as you face it. Light the shamash (the candle used to light the others) and recite the three Chanukah blessings and begin, one candle every evening for eight days. Find the 8-day schedule of local Chanukah events with a click here.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Christmas Worship in German – 4PM | Free
Meson Sabika – 1190 Olesen Drive. – Naperville, IL 60540 Christmas worship in the German language will take place at St. John United Church of Christ. The service will be led by Pastor Dr. Egon Gerdes, and are all welcome to attend.  St. John UCC is located at 1190 Olesen Drive.  Services in the German language are also held at St. John UCC at 11:30AM on the first Sunday of every month.  For more information call (630) 355-5208.

Sunday

Civic Plaza, Jackson Ave. at Webster St.

Merry Christmas!

“It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmastime.”    

—Charles Dickens

Peace on Earth to men, women and children of goodwill.

God bless us, Every One.

Joy to the world!

 


And there’s more…

Did you miss the local results of the 2016 campaign season? Check out who will be representing Naperville in DuPage and Will counties, Springfield and Washington at PN’s Election Guide, prepared to get the vote out on November 8, 2016.

And be prepared to begin paying close attention as hopefuls rev up in the coming weeks to run in the upcoming Consolidated Election slated for April 4, 2016. 48 local residents turned in petition packets hopeful to fill seats up for election of local taxing bodies. …And some elections will be more competitive than others.  Follow local elections for City Council, Naperville Park District Board of Commissioners, Boards of Education for Districts 203 and 204 as well as township trustees and College of DuPage trustees. Get to know the issues and the candidates.

Latest News

Look forward with photo-enhanced stories every day on the Latest NewsIn addition to events and other happenings, find public meeting notices scheduled at the Naperville Municipal Center.

Check out PN’s Events Calendar for other events as well as to help plan next week and upcoming weekends.

On the navigation bar atop the Events Calendar, find calendars specific to Runs & WalksCharity Golf (This page soon will be updated for 2017), Festivals & Traditions over the course of the year as well as this month’s Book Events hosted by Anderson’sNorth Central College Performing Arts and happenings at Naper Settlement.

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PN Editor
An editor is someone who prepares content for publishing. It entered English, the American Language, via French. Its modern sense for newspapers has been around since about 1800.

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