Blawnox cookie tour, Night of Lights celebration draws families to the borough

A stroll through Blawnox turned very delicious for many families as the nonprofit Best of Blawnox hosted its second annual cookie tour.

More than 20 businesses up and down Freeport Road participated in the holiday event Dec. 3.

Bella Iarrapino, 12, of Blawnox was dressed as one of Santa’s little helpers. She greeted participants at the Best of Blawnox tent at the Veteran’s Monument at the intersection of Freeport Road and North Avenue.

“I just really like cookies and want to spread Christmas cheer,” Bella said. Her favorite cookie is chocolate chip.

Bella was accompanied by classmate Abby Goodman, 12, of O’Hara, who was dressed as the Grinch. Abby said she was encouraged to participate by her mother, Best of Blawnox member Kim Goodman.

There were people at the tent dressed as reindeer and other characters and waving to passersby.

Diane Casile, president of Best of Blawnox, said planning for the event was easier this time around.

“I think the businesses were more excited this year because they knew what to expect,” she said. “We don’t have a really big business district. We get good participation by the ones that are here. Once you do it, once you kind of have a road map to follow.”

It had rained heavily in the morning. The skies cleared up just a few hours before the event.

“The weatherman was right on,” Casile said. “He said the last rain would be around 11 a.m. So, we waited before we put all the balloons out, and it worked out perfectly.”

April Overbeck, co-owner of Overbeck’s Nursery & Landscaping, offered cookies from Periwinkle’s Bakery & Cafe. There were sugar cookies, chocolate chip and cutouts of Santa.

Overbeck said it is important for businesses to support one another, and events like the cookie tour brings folks to town who would otherwise drive by.

“Who doesn’t like cookies?” Overbeck asked. “We love that all the businesses get together and do this. We’re a small town. A lot of people just drive through and blink and miss us. It’s nice to have something like this that people get out and walk around and get to find out what businesses are really in Blawnox because a lot of them don’t know. I think there are more people here than last year. We’ve been busy.”

The fire department had a lot of homemade cookies baked by its volunteers. Firefighters also raffled off LEGO toy sets and sold T-shirts as part of their fundraising efforts.

“It’s very important,” said 1st Lt. Pam Stephens about the cookie tour. “It actually gets people out and get to know their neighbors and see what the businesses are all about. The people that stop in here, a lot of them had their children. We let them on the equipment so they’re not afraid of us when they see us out there.

“It helps us build a rapport with a lot of the neighbors also. We let them check out anything that they want. The kids love it. A lot of the times (families) are embarrassed to call (the fire department). Never be embarrassed to call. We would rather you call us and let us come check out (the situation) and be safe. That’s what we’re here for, for the public’s safety.”

Fox Chapel resident Nicole Sharkey-Welsh participated in the cookie tour with her daughter, Winnie Welsh, 4.

“We love cookies, and we love supporting local businesses,” Sharkey-Welsh said. “We wanted to come down and see some places. We got to walk into a couple stores we didn’t even know were here. That was kind of exciting.”

Winnie said she had been a good girl this year and asked Santa for a dress based on Disney’s “Frozen” movie.

Best of Blawnox is a nonprofit group dedicated to promoting the borough and supporting its residents and businesses.

The cookie tour was from 1-4 p.m. Festivities continued the next few hours as the borough hosted its Night of Lights event at the monument and inside the Hoboken Presbyterian Church, 921 North Ave.

Syria Shriner clowns made balloon creatures. An artist did airbrush tattoos and joked with attendees.

Children also got to decorate their own ornament and hang them on the borough tree. Santa arrived via fire truck and took a lot of photos with families.