By Damaine Vonada
Posted On: Nov 21, 2022
Spend the most wonderful time of the year with Ebenezer Scrooge, the Mouse King, Rosie the Riveter, Dean Martin, and even Jake from State Farm in Steubenville, where the world's largest collection of life-sized nutcrackers enchants visitors throughout the holidays.
Photo credit: Chad Mason
Opening on Nov. 22 with fireworks and a courthouse light-and-music show, Steubenville Nutcracker Village is a novel outdoor event that runs through Jan. 7, 2023. It's not only free but also offers youngsters and oldsters alike a one-stop, walkable destination for making memories and savoring the spirit of the season in an historic Ohio River town.
Photo credit: Madeline Stutzman
Everyone finds plenty of photo ops too, for downtown Steubenville is decked out with 200 nutcrackers depicting characters from history, literature, movies, sports, the arts, entertainment, and numerous cultures, traditions, and occupations.
Visitors delight in strolling the streets and encountering Father Christmas, Pinocchio, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, a Steel Worker, a Soccer Player, Charlie Brown, Mother Teresa, and of course Tchaikovsky, who composed the famous Christmas Eve ballet, The Nutcracker.
Photo credit: Madeline Stutzman
While perennial crowd-pleasers include Dorothy and her Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, and Tin Man pals from The Wizard of Oz, fifteen 15 new nutcrackers – including Glinda the Good Witch and Belle from Beauty and the Beast – debut this year.
Photo credit: Madeline Stutzman
In German folklore, figurative nutcrackers are good luck symbols, and Steubenville's good fortune is the talented citizens who have created a truly homegrown Christmas celebration by designing, carving, and painting the nutcrackers. Each nutcracker is locally sponsored and takes at least 40 hours to make.
Photo credit: Madeline Stutzman
The artists producing them have such a flair for the fabulous that the nutcrackers' eyes, hair, and even moustaches are distinctively detailed to convey personality and expression. "We developed the concept for their eyes during the Nutcracker Village's first year, and they're very Disneyesque," says Therese Fedoryka, who has personally painted about 150 nutcrackers.
Fedoryka's father, Mark Nelson, was one of the masterminds who originated the event in 2015 to help revitalize Steubenville and provide public art for the community to enjoy. He runs Nelson Fine Art & Gifts, which manufactures religious artwork and devotional items.
But on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings during Steubenville Nutcracker Village, Nelson volunteers for a different job. He drives a tractor so that families can hop aboard the Polar Express Hayride and merrily roll past block after block of buildings adorned with decorations and draped with twinkling lights.
Photo credit: Madeline Stutzman
The annual transformation of downtown Steubenville into a magical village of six-foot-tall nutcrackers now attracts some 50,000 people from all over the United States. "A lot of them are nutcracker fanatics," says Fedoryka, "while many others are looking for a small-town getaway or an affordable holiday destination."
But no matter why or when visitors come, Steubenville enhances its 24/7 nutcracker exhibit with a sleigh full of activities and experiences that range from sipping mugs of mulled wine in the German Gluhwein Garden to laughing all the way through the Wooden Heart Follies, a set-in-Steubenville musical comedy based on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite.
Photo credit: Madeline Stutzman
Other performances include Victorian Candlelight and Country Christmas concerts, and during the beautiful, European-inspired St. Nicholas Lantern Parade, locals and visitors alike carry lanterns as St. Nicholas lead them through the streets of Steubenville. Everyone sings carols or ring bells until they reach the Nativity Creche in the Sanctuary Garden at St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
For holiday shopping, historic Fourth Street has several eclectic, independently owned shops. The Prodigal Daughter gift boutique stocks fun and funky treasures and trinkets; Chesterton & Co. Cigars boasts a14-ft. tall humidor; and Drosselmeyer's Nutcracker Shoppe stocks – what else? – nutcrackers, Nutcracker Village ornaments and calendars, and nutcracker-themed gifts such as pretty – and practical! – tea towels printed in Steubenville.
Leonardo's Coffeehouse sells Elfnog – think eggnog latte – throughout the holidays, and Steubenville Popcorn Company's best-seller is its homemade Crocetti Crunch. Crocetti was Steubenville native Dean Martin's real last name, and the flavor-packed popcorn is made from a secret caramel corn recipe.
Photo credit: Historic Fort Steuben
At Fort Steuben Park on Third Street, a singing nutcracker named Sebastian specializes in "Let It Snow" and other Christmas tunes by Dean Martin, while the nearby Baron Von Steuben nutcracker salutes the Prussian drillmaster – and Steubenville namesake – who trained George Washington's troops.
Steubenville took root in 1786, when the First American Regiment built Fort Steuben to protect surveyors mapping the Northwest Territory. Today, the park is home to Historic Fort Steuben, a reconstruction of the 1786 fort on its original site overlooking the Ohio River.
A year-round living history museum, Historic Fort Steuben fills the surrounding park with good cheer during its annual holiday festivities. "We hold Christmas at the Fort in conjunction with Steubenville Nutcracker Village to offer extra things for people to do," explains Historic Fort Steuben director Judy Bratten. "We have free movies, puppet shows, live entertainment, and a Holiday Market where regional vendors sell hand-crafted clothing, foods, and decorative items."
Glowing lights illuminate Historic Fort Steuben's blockhouses, where interpreters in period garb demonstrate heritage crafts on select weekends. Inside the fort's Visitor Center, a seasonal Christmas Shoppe carries everything from Fort Steuben histories to collectible nutcrackers, and special Yuletide exhibits include old-time toys and a Model Train & Christmas Village.
"The vintage toy display," notes Bratten, "is a great place for grandmas and grandpas to connect with their grandkids by showing them the kinds of dolls and games and bicycles that Santa brought them."
Photo credit: Madeline Stutzman
TIP: since Steubenville is chockful of jolly good things to see and do during the holidays, stop by Drosselmeyer's Nutcracker Shoppe or the Steubenville Visitor Center to get activity information and maps showing the nutcrackers' locations. For event details and updates, visit steubenvillenutcrackervillage.com; oldfortsteuben.com; and visitsteubenville.com.
For more things to do this #HolidaysinOhio season, check out #OhioFindItHere at Ohio.org.
*Hero photo credit: Madeline Stutzman
