Country Christmas at Jack Miner proves popular

By Deanna Bertrand

KINGSVILLE — The Jack Miner Migratory Bird Sanctuary hosted several activities for a Country Christmas themed event for the whole family this past weekend to conclude its 2021 season.

Events ranged from Christmas crafts, a visit with Santa and tree decorating, to a fun challenging maze on the property.

Enjoying time doing crafts were Hediye Sakacali of Windsor and Alyson Ngu of Lakeshore.

Amanda Everaert, Executive Director for the Jack Miner Foundation, said the weekend of events kicked off Friday night with over 76 children out to see Santa.

Seven-year-old Thea Laramie, middle, and her sister Sophie, 4, met with the big guy himself on Friday evening.

Saturday offered outdoor sports enthusiasts a chance to see between 15-20 unique ATVs and snowmobiles at the Essex County ATV and Snowmobile Club’s show, sponsored by Full Throttle.

Sitting on a couple of snowmobiles are Cedar Ferguson, 8 and Silas Ferguson, 4, of Wheatley.

Awards were also presented for best decorated and oldest sled.

The evening sights and sounds included Christmas lights and music, more museum and house tours and the smell of bonfires with a whiff of hot apple cider and hot cocoa to keep warm.

Nighttime brought on the lights and bonfire at Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary on the weekend.

Special guest visits on Sunday included several local Mascots with Honkers the Goose, Southpoint Sun Sunny, the Lions Club Lion, Libro Bill the Duck and the Kingsville Cavalier.

Katija Brassard, 4, gets a high five from Sunny, the Southpoint Sun mascot.

Due to poor weather, the event had to end earlier than planed Sunday evening at 7 p.m.

The historic house and museum are now closed for the season and will reopen in April 2022 for National Wild Life Week.

The grounds and trails remain open all year round and the Christmas light show continues until January 1.

Emerence Omstead-Olewski, 3, feeds the waterfowl as her mom and dad, Katie and Matt, look on.