Merrysville lights up Marysville

Published 11:27 pm Thursday, December 4, 2008

MERRYSVILLE — The second or third year of the Marysville holiday celebration, in 1990 or 1991, part of the entertainment was a young woman singing “Santa Baby.”

Shortly into the song, some people watching became worried that the young woman’s performance wouldn’t quite be suitable for families.

“She just started peeling off clothes,” recalls city parks director Jim Ballew, one of those who helped start the Merrysville for the Holidays Winter Celebration and Electric Lights Parade.

The mayor at the time, Rita Matheny, turned to Ballew and asked in her Irish brogue, “Laddy, what have you done now?”

It turned out that the young woman didn’t peel down very far, taking off only her hat, gloves and maybe a jacket.

“We used local talent to celebrate, which we continue to do,” Ballew said. “That was a lot of fun.”

The event, which marks its 20th year Saturday, has come a long way since its inception, Ballew said.

“We maybe had a couple of hundred people show up, and now it’s in the thousands,” he said.

Marysville had only the Strawberry Festival at the time and was looking for another way to draw people to town, Ballew said.

Tom Lamoureux and Kelly Burt-Dykstra with the Chamber of Commerce, Shyla Hall with the downtown Marysville Albertson’s store and Ballew launched the event, city spokesman Doug Buell said.

The event includes a lighted vehicle parade, arts and crafts, musical entertainment, lighting of the water tower and more.

It’s had other unusual moments over the years. Twice, it’s snowed — last year and in 1999.

Once, in the late 1990s, the event was cancelled because of really bad weather — “rainy, stormy, windy, lightning,” Buell said.

The city’s prominent water tower is usually decorated, sometimes missing the mark.

“One year we tried to make it spaceship-looking,” Buell said. “Didn’t work.”

Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.