For North Aurora resident Meghan Lipscomb, coming to downtown Geneva every year for the annual Christmas Walk is an experience she likens to “a Hallmark movie.”
“I’ve come here at least 10 years. It’s a tradition,” she said Friday evening as Geneva held this year’s Christmas Walk in the city’s downtown. “It feels like a Hallmark movie. Every year, I can’t wait for the Graham’s candy cane, the hot chocolate and just the ambiance of it all. I’m going to see the parade and then do some shopping.”
Thousands came to downtown Geneva Friday for the event, offered by the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, that included carolers, the lighting of the city’s Christmas tree, merchants offering holiday treats and the appearance of Santa.
Beginning at 6 p.m. on Third Street between James and Campbell streets, fest-goers watched the return of Bob’s Candy Cane Parade in honor of the late Bob Untiedt, former owner of Graham’s Chocolates in Geneva, who died in the spring of 2021.
The parade is now in its 16th year.
Untiedt’s daughter, Jayni Wunderlich of Elburn, now the CEO of Graham’s Chocolates, said the shop “has been pulling fresh candy canes for 30 years” and that this “is an especially beautiful year” for her.
“I found footage of our very first candy cane pull 30 years ago from 1994, an old video and I just uploaded it into YouTube and have been sharing it on our Facebook page and you can actually see our shop 30 years ago. It’s just wild,” Wunderlich said before the parade began on Friday. “It’s such a special video to find. Especially on Dec. 2, on Monday, which was the actual 30th anniversary of when the candy cane pull happened and to see my dad living and doing his thing.”
Wunderlich added that Friday’s event “definitely kicks off the holiday season at Graham’s” and that because of the late date of Thanksgiving this year, “we’re already in the swing of things.”
“People come out regardless of the weather and giving people a candy cane is a nice way to thank our customers for all their support throughout the year,” she said. “Last year, we made about nine batches and this year I’m guessing we’ll make 1,000 pounds of candy canes. The crowd dictates how many we make.”
Wunderlich said she was also excited as her 9-year-old daughter Lainey would be presenting Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns the first candy cane of the season, a time-honored tradition of the Christmas Walk.
“She’s ready. She’s excited. She’s been seeing (the parade) since she was a baby and she’s like – this is my year,” Wunderlich said. “She’s excited, she’s been prepped. She knows exactly what to say.”
Meghan Lipscomb was holding a cup of hot chocolate with a candy cane already in it as she stood by her mother, Dawn Lipscomb, also of North Aurora, at the event.
“We do this mother-daughter thing every year no matter what,” Dawn Lipscomb said. “We both fell upon this years ago and we’ve been doing it ever since. Geneva is like my adopted town. We come in the summer, we go to the markets, it’s close to home and it’s a beautiful, quaint town.”
Both Lipscombs admitted that Friday’s temperature, which hovered around 30 degrees as the parade was about to start with little wind, added to the huge crowd that filled Third Street.
“If it was colder, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be standing inside a store somewhere and shopping,” Dawn Lipscomb admitted.
Chuck Turack of Geneva came with his wife Becky and admitted that he too might have to reconsider attending a local parade in sub-zero temperatures.
“I’m not a big parade guy, but you know what, it’s kind of cool that so many people participate in this and have fun when they’re doing it,” he said. “If it’s 10 degrees above zero, I don’t think you’d see this kind of turnout. The weather Gods were with us for sure. Things worked out.”
Becky Turack said last year was the first time she and her husband came to the event and that coming back was all about “this being a big event for a small town and we love living here.”
“I think this is all scaled about the way it should be and that’s why we moved here,” she said. “It’s a small town and so it’s great living here.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.