Belleville's First Annual Cookie Walk

The sun was setting, the air had a bite, but kids young and old came out in hoards to enjoy Beautify Downtown Belleville's First Annual Cookie Walk. We had 18 local businesses participate by opening their doors and providing cookies and other sweet treats to visitors. After visiting the businesses, everyone headed back to Library Park to vote for their favorite decorated window and to get some hot chocolate provided by the Friends of the Belleville Public Library. Jon and Sonya Tourdot had music playing to welcome everyone back to the park. Girl Scout Troop 1531 sang several carols and the First UCC Bell Choir performed.
Businesses were also encouraged to decorate their business for a chance to win a People's Choice Award. The winning businesses were: 1st: Whitney's Academy of Dance; 2nd: Lingonberry Llama; and 3rd: The Belleville Laundromat.
Bronna Lehmann, Director of the Belleville Public Library, thanked everyone and led a countdown to lighting the tree in the gazebo that had been decorated by the Belleville Busy Beaver 4-H Club. Gazebo and Old Library decorations had been done by the Belleville Kiwanis earlier that week. The evening concluded with carol singing led by the Belleville High School Vocal Jazz Ensemble, a reading of The Night Before Christmas, and Santa announcing the prize winners.
The Friends of the Belleville Public Library are a dedicated group that supports our local library by funding and volunteering at educational and cultural events for children and adults. They have also been active fundraisers for our new Library and Community Center.
Beautify Downtown Belleville was started by Debi Buol earlier this year, and our group was blown away by the amount of people that were delighted to participate; estimated to be around 300! BDB looks forward to continuing this tradition and adding on similar family-friendly events throughout 2020. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you Belleville Community for supporting us and your local business owners!