Not a Fan of Black Friday Lines? Take a Stroll Instead...
By: Elsa Gillis
Updated: November 28, 2011
It's Black Friday but not everyone is going to the big stores for those big discounts. One central New York town took a more relaxing approach to the craziest shopping day of the year. Instead of waiting in long lines and dashing to the store, the town of Clinton celebrated Black Friday with a stroll. "The stroll is about 30 years old," says Ferris Betrus, "it was started by the Chamber of Commerce and it's to help promote the village, the merchants, and the holiday spirit."
Clinton's Shoppers Stroll is a two day event, starting Friday and ending Saturday. Along with special sales at area merchants, there's entertainment, holiday foods, a parade, and horse and carriage rides.
For some local businesses, today has been extremely helpful. The Kirkland Art Center Gallery store just opened in October. "It has been bringing a lot of people in so they can see what kind of artists, what kind of media, how serious artists we have in a local community," said Vartan Poghosian.
The goal of the stroll is to officially kick off the holiday season and promote local businesses, but it's also to highlight what many people see as a special town.
The stroll continues Saturday morning at 9, until 7 at night. If you're thinking about heading over, you can visit the village of Clinton's website for more information: http://villageofclinton.com/
