Depending on one’s age, growing up in Northeast Ohio may have included walking by shops like O’Neil’s in Cleveland during the holidays, admiring the lavish displays with bright, twinkling lights. These memories are so ingrained in our memory in northeast Ohio and beyond that they were even memorialized in the 1983 film A Christmas Story. It is with these displays in mind that Michael Owen and his wife Jodie Oates have decided children should still get to enjoy similar feelings today, even if they are unable to visit friends or relatives they don’t live with.
On Saturday, December 5th, therefore, the Jenks Building, located on the corner of Front Street and Falls Avenue, will feature gingerbread houses designed and created by Blue ribbon award-winning artist Dr. John Lerner, who is also a practicing dentist in Cuyahoga Falls. Accompanying the candy homes will be a vintage 1940s Lionel train set that has graciously been contributed from the collection of Dennis Dick, expanding the Christmas joy seen through the windows.
“We were going to originally—before the numbers got bad again—have people in and then auction [the gingerbread houses] off and give the money to Good Neighbors,” explains Jodie Oates. “With everything being so bad, we thought we would put them on display for the kids.”
In addition to window browsing, Santa and his elves will be inside the shop from 4-6pm, safely behind the windows for children to see. For those who wish to deliver a letter to Santa, children will be able to drop their letters in Santa’s mailbox in front of the building—and they might even receive a response back.
Members of the public who wish to purchase a one-of-a-kind gift from the Jenks Building or Trust Books can make an appointment between 11am-6pm to shop privately with one of Santa’s elves.
“We still want families to feel the joy of the holiday season,” Oates said.
For more information about The Jenks Building and Trust Books, visit: https://www.facebook.com/Jenks-Building-Cuyahoga-Falls-109458223997424/
