Wallingfordians gather at Mr. D’s for the Holiday Stroll.
By Rachel Fan ’27
During the night of December 1, Wallingford residents were bundled up in Santa hats, cozy knits, and Grinch costumes to walk the shops and restaurants on North Main Street and Center Street. From 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., festive lights and candles lit up the sidewalk, and a sound truck played cheerful tunes for pedestrians to enjoy.
According to Mrs. Liz Davis of the Wallingford Center Inc. (WCI), co-host of the event with Wallingford Park and Rec, the Holiday Stroll began 14 years ago after a group of retailers came together wanting to create an event for the Christmas season. She explained it was originally aimed to benefit and promote small businesses downtown, but since then, has “morphed into something more.”
This year, the stroll hosted over 70 merchants across town, comprising both small businesses and restaurants. Some vendors offered items unique to this event, such as pumpkin-chai-scented candles and peppermint matcha cake, while others had special holiday discounts, such as 10% off of merchandise.
A fan-favorite of the Holiday Stroll was the raffle. According to Mrs. Davis, visitors could buy a raffle ticket for a vendor to get a certain amount off of retail price at their store and a chance to win a prize box filled with gift cards worth $400, $600, or $1000. The Wallingford Rotary Club also held a fundraising raffle, of which the generated profits went into supporting the local community. “Around 300 people have participated in this raffle so far,” the manager at the club’s booth said.
Mrs. Davis explained that the goal of the Holiday Stroll, “is to get people into their business, to shop, and to patronize it.” It also gives new businesses a chance to introduce themselves to the community.
The Library Wine Bar and Bistro is one of the newer participants of this event, joining the Holiday Stroll in 2022. This year, they crafted a signature holiday drink and invited a jazz group to play acoustic music for customers.
Another booth participating in the event for their second year was a scented candle shop with a booth situated in Mr. D’s. While they sell candles at seven different places all across Wallingford all year, the vendor said the Holiday Stroll has been “a great place to get attention from residents” across town.
Mrs. Davis hopes that this Wallingfordian tradition continues to grow in the future. The WCI has been meeting with various merchants for discussions about expanding the mission of Holiday Stroll into other seasons besides just Christmas. “We have ideas floating around, and it’s just a question of making those ideas into reality,” she said.
