Community Candlelight Walk

Massillon’s Community Candlelight Walk returns this year on Sunday, December 4. Free and open to everyone, the event is a self-guided stroll through downtown Massillon among luminarias and Christmas lights to visit nine historic churches, four community attractions, and candlelight along historic Fourth Street.  

Churches and venues will be open from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. The warming and refreshment station at the Massillon Museum will be open throughout that time. Then the focus of the evening turns to St. Mary’s Church at 7:45 p.m. for the Festival of Music and Candlelighting Ceremony—honoring a person who has made Massillon a better place during 2022.

The committee encourages everyone to bundle up, bring friends and family, and share some old-fashioned Christmas spirit. Although the route is illuminated by street lights, in addition to luminarias along the sidewalks at most churches, some people bring flashlights.

The heart of downtown Massillon, four of the churches, Five Oaks, and the Fourth Street neighborhood are all on the National Register of Historic Places.

Walkers can enjoy the holiday wreaths that volunteer Rudy Turkal designed to line Lincoln Way as well as the Downtown Massillon Association’s Christmas display at Duncan Plaza. Look up to see the colored lights at the top of downtown’s historic buildings.

A new feature of the walk this year will be wooden Victorian characters located on the lawn at St. Paul’s Church, provided as a photo opportunity by the CHARM neighborhood association.

Historic Churches:
St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, St. George Greek Orthodox Church, St. John’s United Church of Christ, Central Presbyterian Church, Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, and First United Methodist Church will present nearly continuous music. Some churches will intersperse their music with church tours or storytelling. Many will be decorated for Christmas and offer refreshments. 

Attractions:
Walkers can stop in the Massillon Museum’s Gessner Hall for complimentary cookies, coffee, cocoa, and tea throughout the walk.  Sing Stark’s VOX AUDIO will perform a capella music as walkers get warm. 

The impressive Massillon Pubic Library building will be the backdrop for caroling by the staff and their family and friends.

Massillon Railroad Club, located in the lower level of the First United Methodist Church, will have O-gauge trains running—many depicting lines that ran through Massillon.  Find the entrance at the back of the church on Third Street SE.

The CHARM neighborhood association will light 900 luminaries along the bricks of historic Fourth Street, leading to the Five Oaks mansion, where Massillon Heritage Foundation and Massillon Woman’s Club members will offer refreshments and live music amidst the mansion’s stunning architecture and lush holiday decorations. 

Festival of Music and Candlelighting Ceremony:
The evening finale will be held at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, where organ holiday selections will fill the sanctuary before the 7:45 program, which will include the ceremonial community candlelighting and music by the Washington High School choir, the Washingtonians, St. Mary’s choir, and the young Sixteenth Street Singers under the direction of Julie Dewald. 

Additional Churches:
Prior to the Community Candlelight Walk (4:00 to 5:00 pm), Grace United Church of Christ will present music by the Tuslaw New Horizons show choir. Massillon Connections Church will present a puppet play, “Not Just Any Story,” several times during the walk.

Committee:
Loren Veigel, Kathy Shultz, Rick and Patty Dalsky, Nancy Jobe, Marsha Knouff, Debbie Busby, and Margy Vogt organize the event.

History:
Since 1984, contributions by an individual or organization to the well-being of the community have been recognized by honoring them as the year’s community candlelighting honoree. In 2001, Loren Veigel introduced the concept of adding a church walk, which has attracted at least 2000 guests each year.

Sponsors:
Aqua Ohio, Visit Canton, Massillon Eagles #190, Farmers National Bank, G&D Fabricating and Welding, Paquelet Funeral Home, Paradigm Shift Craft Brewery, CHARM, and Massillon WestStark Chamber of Commerce sponsor the Community Candlelight Walk

To learn more about the event, visit the Community Candlelight Walk Facebook event page or contact Margy Vogt, chairman, at 330-844-1525 or vogt@sssnet.com.

Pre-Walk Concert - 4:00–5:00 p.m. 
Grace United Church of Christ • 933 Main Avenue West