Imagine a country town, like something from a Courier and
Ives print, with the streets and stores decorated for Christmas. Now imagine musical groups performing in each
of the stores and restaurants in the town center. Sound magical? Indeed it is.
This is Acker night in Prescott
Arizona, a 30 year tradition that's one of Arizona's
lesser known treasures. Vicky and I
drive up and book a room in the Springhill Suites downtown. The choice is easy as we know the chain is
comfortable and since it's a short 2 block walk from the Courthouse
Square, we won't have to struggle for
parking. It turns out to be particularly
inspired since the Lutheran Church Bell Ringers are performing in the lobby,
and the hotel has laid on hot chocolate with all the fixin's, and gingerbread
cookies. But this is just the start!
For 30 years, on a Friday in December, Prescott
has kept alive the dream of James S Acker, a local store owner and real estate
agent who, at his death in 1955 left the
balance of his estate to the City of Prescott
"to be used for parks and for promotion of music, particularly for
children." In 1988 two local
residents spearheaded a project to mesh music and the Christmas celebration and
celebrate Mr. Acker's legacy. That year
8 groups performed in 8 stores. This
year, the 30th, features over 100 groups in 100 stores.
This is our first Acker Night so we have an early dinner /
late lunch at Prescott Station, one of our favorite restaurants, so as to be
ready when the event kicks off outside the courthouse at 5:30pm. Although
the meal is great we needn't have bothered since there's plenty of food at the
festival itself.
We miss the mayor's welcome but arrive in time to enjoy the
local high school students, clad in tuxedos (boys) and long dresses (girls),
singing familiar and not so familiar holiday songs in Courthouse
Square. The
kickoff ends with a community sing-along of Handel's "Halleluiah
Chorus".
We have 3 hours (or until we run out of steam) before the
entertainment ends so, armed with a list of who's performing where that we got
from our hotel (also available on the event website) we search for jazz, blues
and classical, our 3 favorites. A
chocolate shop is advertising a classical pianist. We arrive to find it's a
very small shop and they only allow a few people in at a time. (The only place we found with this
restriction!). It doesn't take long for
us to get in, and while the young lady on the piano is mostly being ignored, we
enjoy a free sample of 57% organic dark chocolate with sea salt. This fulfils its intended purpose as we leave
with a 7oz bag of said chocolate.
Right across the way we find a cute emporium with guitar music,
and Vicky ends up with a pair of gloves.
I won't bore you by listing all the music we heard, but let's just say
that, whatever your taste in music from hard rock to mellow Christmas songs,
you'll find it in one of the stores or restaurants in downtown Prescott on
Acker night. You'll also be able to
complete (or start) your Holiday shopping, and even have
a meal.
But you don't need to buy a meal if you like sweet candies
or cakes as they're in abundance along with hot chocolate, coffee and apple cider,
all around town. One place worth
mentioning is the city offices, where they have all of the above, plus a warm
welcome and entertainment from an enthusiastic singing group of hearing
impaired individuals from the local Lutheran
Church. Just up the road in the historic (and
supposedly haunted) Hotel Vendome, we find
a musician performing Elvis songs (and even sounding live The King),
without the usual "look-alike" makeup and clothes.
Is this just an opportunity for local musicians to perform
in public? Or an excuse for stores to
stay open late one night during the Holiday shopping
session? No, it's an opportunity to fulfill
the wishes of James Acker as expressed in his will. While there is no pressure to contribute, in
every store and restaurant there's a large bag where you can make a
donation. Those high school students we
listened to earlier are also on the lot too warm streets with more of these
bags. All of the money contributed goes
to fund scholarships. .These are awarded
to elementary and high school students based on their teacher's recommendations
and are used to fund private tuition to help the students develop their skills
in the performing arts.
About 8:00 we're
tired and return to the hotel to listen to the bell ringers and enjoy a good
night's sleep. The following morning we
come down for breakfast to find Santa Claus and his wife not only welcoming
kids but also singing Christmas songs for us.
They don't forget us big kids and we leave with candy canes.
We're already booking our hotel room for next year (December 13, 2019) and ope to see
you there. While the event is world
famous in Prescott, it's not well
known outside the town, but it's well worth the trip. Traditional American Christmas celebrations
are still alive, especially in the old territorial capital of Arizona.
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