By Kate Lohnes

The holidays are a merry – albeit crazy – time of year.

While Dublin residents have their fair share of busy days at Christmas time, winter holidays also involve a lot of preparation for businesses and local organizations. For some, Christmas is a herald of special programs and activities for community members. For others, it means an influx of seasonal workers. And for just about everyone, it means a little relaxation when January rolls around.

Business
Many retail businesses in Dublin find themselves prepping for holiday shoppers months ahead of the actual day. At The Sisters Sweet Shoppe in Historic Dublin, co-owners Melissa and Craig Sonksen start fielding orders for fruitcake, gift baskets and more in mid-October, when their holiday catalog arrives at customer’s homes.

“People will receive (the catalog) and the next week the orders will start pouring in,” Melissa says. “A lot of people pre-order. As soon as they get the catalog they’ll send in their check. They want to put their order in the system and hold it for Thanksgiving or Christmas.”

To deal with the influx of orders (both from the catalog and from customers in their store) the Sonksens hire seasonal employees, which typically outnumber their regular employee roster. They also have a night crew that comes in after regular business hours to put together gift baskets.

“We bring in a lot of part-time people,” Melissa says. “I think last year we had 15 or 16 part-time people who work every day, but they’re seasonal. They’re mostly moms and college students.”

At Z Bearla’s Fun and Unique Gifts on South High Street, owner Teresa Zedeker has weathered the holidays for the past 11 years.

“The holidays are very busy,” she says. “There is a lot more foot traffic. I have people I may only see once a year – especially men – and that’s when I see them.”

According to Zedeker, she typically finishes all her ordering and buying for the holiday rush by the end of October. Certain items have a tendency to sell out during that time, she says.

“All of our OSU Buckeye stuff gets almost completely wiped out at Christmas time,” she says. “We have some artists that make things like jewelry. We do a pretty hefty business with the jewelry, because a lot of it is one-of-a-kind.”

Like other business owners in Dublin, Zedeker says she practically lives in her shop during the holiday season (she even postpones her own holiday parties until after Jan. 1). Not only does Zedeker give herself and her two part-time employees more hours, but she also extends the hours the store is open: starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving and running through Dec. 26, Z Bearla’s is open seven days a week with expanded store hours each day. That’s because the store needs to keep up with the holiday bustle in Historic Dublin, which attracts crowds with special events (like the Dec. 6 chili cook-off) and many shopping and dining opportunities.

“It’s always busier,” she says. “At the restaurants, people are having their Christmas parties or their holiday parties for their employees. Those are scattered from one end of the district to the other.”

Recreation
As shops and restaurants take care of people’s retail and dining needs, the city of Dublin takes time during the holiday season to develop special programming and events. With people taking vacations and kids out of school for several weeks, these holiday extras tend to be welcome additions to the calendar.

At the Dublin Community Recreation Center, staff members work extra hard during the holiday season with a variety of programming done both by the DCRC staff and from community groups. According to Michael Schirtzinger, theater supervisor, Recreation Services hosts an annual Christmas concert with jazz performer Dwight Lennox, a local musician who performs at the Abbey Theater several times a year. The theater must also balance the schedules of various community dance companies, which perform their dance recitals at the theater (most companies now schedule these recitals a year in advance). Usually, Schirtzinger says, the events between September and December at the theater are the best attended.

DCRC also hosts an annual winter camp for first through fifth graders who are out of school, says Recreation Administrator Barb Burkholder. The camp runs Dec. 22 through Jan. 2 (excluding Christmas Day and New Year’s Day) and keeps kids busy during the day when parents can’t be home.

“We get at least 100 kids,” she says. “Think about it. Twelve elementary schools and all those latchkeys are closing down, and where are they going to go? Not everybody has that option of taking off the holiday. Most people like to take their vacations in the summertime.”

The camp requires counselors, Burkholder says, so staff members contact counselors who worked over the summer – many of whom are college students – to work the camp. There are also other programs like a pre-school “mini break” camp or special parties for pre-school age children.

Kids and families that do not participate in the camps still flock to the rec center during the holidays.

“It’s buzzing, it’s constantly busy over the Christmas holiday,” Burkholder says. “Some places say they’re dead, but we are so busy. You’ve got people coming in and working out, trying to get rid of that Christmas stress. Then they’ve got their kids here. We have some family gym events on Friday nights, and those get popular from November through the end of April. Then it kind of slows down.”

When it comes to personal fitness, the center becomes still busier during the month of January, Burkholder says.

"Everybody’s got the New Year’s resolutions,” she says. “The majority of the membership renewals are in January. People are trying to put their best foot forward to get that body back in shape after the holidays. People are indoors a lot, so they want to get out of the house. They start to get cabin feverish.”

Public Safety
The Dublin Division of Police also goes to extra lengths to ensure resident safety during the holiday season, says Sgt. Rodney Barnes, who is also the supervisor for the police department’s community education unit. The department makes a special effort to educate the public about problems they can prevent during the holidays.

“We do educational campaigns on the city Web site, in the schools, anywhere we have a regular presence,” he says. “There is the increased potential for theft. People are leaving packages in their cars, leaving their houses unlocked. When people know there are Christmas presents in the car or under the tree, we try to put the message out there to ‘lock it or lose it.’”

Barnes says the department also runs a vacation watch program for people who will be gone from their homes, which has been available to the public for at least 15 years. Although the program is a year-round offering, it gets busier during the summer and during the holidays.

“You can call and register for it,” Barnes says. “It’s free of charge, and officers will periodically check on your home while you’re out of town.”

More information on the vacation watch program can be found online at www.dublin.oh.us/police/services/services.php.

Kate Lohnes is assistant editor of Dublin Life.