Christmas in St. Michaels is celebrating its 35^th year of fundraising festivities with the return and expansion of its weekend of holiday events taking place on the water and in the heart of historic St. Michaels, Md. This year’s events include a Lighted Boat Parade and festive Talbot Street Parade; a Tour of Homes; Breakfast with Santa; Holiday Music and Meals; a Santa Dash; a Marketplace and Sweet Shoppe, and a Light up the Night drive-by house and harbor tour.

The goal for this year’s Christmas in St. Michaels events is to raise funds to distribute grants to local beneficiaries. More than 25 family services, education and child development, and community enhancement organizations depend on Christmas in St. Michaels funds to support their programs and activities.

The Marketplace and Sweet Shoppe located at St. Mary’s Square’s Granite Lodge kick off the weekend event at noon on Fri., Dec. 10. Proceeds from every sale benefit local nonprofits, with shoppers finding one-of-a-kind, artisan-crafted items and culinary delights available only during this weekend event. The Marketplace and Sweet Shoppe are open for select hours through Sun., Dec. 12 at 3:00 p.m.

Holiday music will fill the air throughout the weekend event, including a special Mid-Shore Community Band performance of seasonal music from 10:00 – 12:00 noon on Sat., Dec. 11 at the corner of Railroad Avenue and Talbot Street. The Jackson Jubilee Singers are set to perform at 1:30 p.m. with soul-stirring gospel music.

Family-favorite events include Saturday’s Breakfast with Santa, which takes place from 8-10:00 a.m. at the waterfront Foxy’s Harbor Grille, with limited $10 tickets available for online purchasing. The 10:30 a.m. Talbot Street Parade, Santa Dash, and the Tour of Homes are wonderful mid-day events, with the Lighted Boat Parade beginning along St. Michaels Harbor at 6:00 p.m.Parade routes, event details, online tickets, and more are at christmasinstmichaels.org.

“The Tour of Homes is one of the highlights of the Christmas in St. Michaels weekend, and it’s great to have all our events back after last year’s pandemic pause,” said Christmas in St. Michaels Board President Pat Martin. “Christmas in St. Michaels has one of Maryland’s longest-running home tours by featuring historic homes in the village and some very special countryside homes.”

The Tour of Homes takes place during select hours on Saturday and Sunday, with limited tickets available for advanced online purchase. The $25 per person ticket includes a one-time admission to all tour homes; transportation to the countryside homes; a detailed tour guide booklet with local information, detailed home and other major St. Michaels landmark descriptions; and free admission to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum for Saturday and Sunday.

Christmas in St. Michaels’Old Fashioned Eastern Shore Christmas Dinner takes place on Sat., Dec. 12 starting at 11:00 a.m. and lasting until 3:00 p.m., or when the meals are sold out. Dinners include sliced roast turkey, Maryland fried oysters, and a large assortment of sides and desserts. The event will be held at the Union United Parish Hall on Fremont Street in St. Michaels with dine-in and carry-out dinners available at $20 per person, with tickets sold at the door, the day of the event.

This year’s 18^th Christmas in St. Michaels Collector’s Ornament features Maggie the Fire Truck—a local legend with an interesting history—and was rendered by local designer and artist Scott Sullivan. Maggie was in operation until the 1950s, and is often seen and celebrated today at parades and local festivals. The Limited-Edition Ornaments are packaged in a keepsake box and are now available for purchase at select area stores and on the Christmas in St. Michaels website.

Christmas in St. Michaels began in 1987 when a group of energetic volunteers recognized the need for daycare services in the community. Funds were raised through community support, and a daycare center was established, now known as Critchlow Adkins Children Centers. Sponsors and patrons of Christmas in St. Michaels since that time have helped raise more than $1.4M in support of numerous local non-profit organizations.

Proceeds from Christmas in St. Michaels help the people served by local non-profit organizations. Event updates, online purchases, and more about Christmas in St. Michaels are at christmasinstmichaels.org.

Christmas in St. Michaels has announced the introduction of its 17^th annual collector’s Christmas ornament, available now in local shops and online.

This year’s ornament features the osprey, whose familiar nests are often seen perched above channel markers, platforms and telephone poles. The piece was adapted from an original drawing by local artist and graphic designer Scott Sullivan.

Known as Pandion haliaetus, and often called the “fish hawk,” they feed almost exclusively on live fish.  The osprey’s whistling or chirping call is as recognizable as is its distinctive flight profile and heavily flapping wingbeats. Watching these magnificent birds from a boat or kayak can provide an especially good vantage point. Many waterfront homeowners happily provide nesting platforms and are rewarded by a summer- long drama as an osprey couple builds its nest and populates it with a growing family.  Nests are distinctive, measuring about a meter in diameter and built from whatever the nesting pair can find — corn stalks, branches and shoreline debris.

Typically the harbingers of spring on the Eastern Shore, the migrating osprey may log more than 160,000 migration miles during its 15-to-20-year lifetime. Ospreys are monogamous, tending to stay with the same partner for life. Once the pair is reunited, they typically use the same nest as in previous years and begin their courtship rituals. Once the nesting pair has built or repaired its nest, egg laying and incubation quickly follow, from mid-April to late May. The young are fed fish and cared for by the parents until late July to early August, at which time the juveniles are able to fly and fish independently of their parents.  It is a grand sight to watch a mother osprey teach her hatchlings to fly from their nest high above the water, with the little ones often falling in, rescued by mom or dad to try again and again.

The Christmas in St. Michaels ornament was first produced in 2004 and a unique image has followed every year since. Previous year’s ornaments are available online at christmasinstmichaels.org.  Ornaments are gold-plated brass and presented in a gift box.  All ornaments are priced at $20.00

The 2020 ornament is available at these local St. Michaels shops:

• All Pets Veterinary Hospital
• American Holiday
• Charisma
• Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Store
• Chesapeake Trading Company
• Pemberton Pharmacy & Gifts
• Shore United Bank – St. Michaels
• Michaels Harbour Inn Marina and Spa
• Michaels Pet Supplies
• The Christmas Shop
• The Preppy Redneck
• Trade Whims – St. Michaels & Easton

These local businesses generously sell our ornament and receive no profit from it.  All proceeds from Christmas in St. Michaels collector’s ornaments support local nonprofit organizations whose work enriches the community. The ornament is also for sale at the St. Michaels Farmer’s Market through October.

Christmas in St. Michaels is held annually on the second weekend in December, although this year the event will be largely virtual. Please visit www.christmasinstmichaels.org to see the many virtual activities and items for sale.  The mission of Christmas in St. Michaels is to provide resources to help local non-profit groups enhance the quality of life for the residents of the Bay Hundred community. In 1987 a group of energetic volunteers recognized the need for day care services in the community. A daycare center was established and, since that time, this annual fund-raising weekend event has raised more than $1,400,000 for local, non-profit organizations. For 33 years, funds raised have benefited local citizens of all ages.

Christmas in St. Michaels, PO Box 873, St. Michaels, MD 21663  PH: 410-745-0745

Christmas in St. Michaels is hosting an Online Raffle for a private helicopter tour of Talbot County with lunch at Inn at Perry Cabin’s Stars restaurant in St. Michaels, Md. Online Raffle tickets are on sale through Nov. 15, 2020, with all proceeds benefiting the nonprofits served by Christmas in St. Michaels funding.

The Raffle winner and up to three guests will take off in a helicopter from Inn at Perry Cabin for a 30-60 minute aerial tour of St. Michaels harbor and Talbot County. The helicopter will then return to the Inn, where the winner and guests will be served a marvelous lunch at the Inn’s Stars restaurant overlooking the Miles River.

The goal for this year’s virtual Christmas in St. Michaels events is to raise enough funds to be able to distribute grants to the same beneficiaries they have supported in the past. More than 25 family services, education and child development, and community enhancement organizations depend on Christmas in St. Michaels funds to support their programs and activities.

The helicopter tour and lunch package is generously provided by local residents Tracy and Scott Wagner, and is redeemable through Dec. 2021. Tickets can be purchased online at christmasinstmichaels.org.

A fabulous Online Auction will take place beginning Nov. 27 and continuing through Dec. 8, with a preview of the auction items scheduled for Nov. 20 – 26. Items include travel, boating and sporting experiences, dining, entertainment, and art. This year’s other virtual events include Breakfast with Santa and Santa’s Favorite Cookies kits; Cheers to a New Year wine and hors d’oeuvres packages; Spirits with St. Nick whiskey and dessert packages; Light up the Night drive-by house tour; Lighted Boat Parade on Dec. 12; an Online Marketplace; and this year’s Christmas in St. Michaels Limited Edition Collectors Ornament featuring the osprey.

Proceeds from Christmas in St. Michaels help support the people served by local non-profit organizations. Event updates, the Online Marketplace and purchases, and more about Christmas in St. Michaels are at christmasinstmichaels.org.

Christmas in St. Michaels is re-focusing its 34^th year of fundraising festivities into a virtual celebration beginning this fall, with numerous online activities and holiday-themed packages and kits to help embrace the Christmas spirit while raising funds for Bay Hundred non-profit organizations. The reformatting is in response to the social distancing measures brought on by the COVID pandemic, which limit the large gatherings that traditionally come with Christmas in St. Michaels events.

The goal for this year’s virtual Christmas in St. Michaels events is to raise enough funds to be able to distribute grants to the same beneficiaries they have supported in the past. More than 25 family services, education and child development, and community enhancement organizations depend on Christmas in St. Michaels funds to support their programs and activities.

A Christmas in St. Michaels Online Raffle kicks off on Oct. 15, with details on Christmas in St. Michaels’s website and a drawing to take place on Nov. 15. An Online Silent Auction will take place beginning Nov. 27 and continuing through Dec. 8, with a preview of the auction items scheduled for Nov. 20 – 26.

Gift certificates for a three-course champagne toast dinner at the Inn at Perry Cabin will be available for purchase beginning in October and valid Dec. 1 – Dec. 30 to serve as a virtual Yuletide Celebration Dinner. An Online Marketplace will help supporters find the perfect gifts while helping to raise the critical funds needed by local service organizations.

Children’s favorites like Breakfast with Santa and Santa’s Favorite Cookies will now be available to purchase as kits online for either pick-up or by shipment. Adults can indulge in online shopping with a cause by purchasing “Cheers to a New Year!” wine and hors d’oeuvres packages, and “Spirits with Saint Nick” whiskey and dessert packages, both available by local pick-up.

Free and open to the public will be a “Light up the Night” drive-by house and harbor tour, with a boat parade in the planning stages. The dates and best routes for spectators will be posted on the Christmas in St. Michaels website. Union United Methodist Church is also participating in Christmas in St. Michaels fundraising, with carryout holiday dinners available for purchase.

This year’s Christmas in St. Michaels Collector’s Ornament features an osprey, adapted from an original drawing by local artist and graphic designer Scott Sullivan. The Limited-Edition Ornaments are packaged in a keepsake box and are now available for purchase at select area stores and on the Christmas in St. Michaels website.

Christmas in St. Michaels began in 1987 when a group of energetic volunteers recognized the need for daycare services in the community. Funds were raised through community support, and a daycare center was established, now known as Critchlow Adkins Children Centers. Sponsors and patrons of Christmas in St. Michaels since that time have helped raise more than $1.4M in support of numerous local non-profit organizations.

Proceeds from Christmas in St. Michaels help the people served by local non-profit organizations. Event updates, online purchases, and more about Christmas in St. Michaels are at christmasinstmichaels.org.