By Eric Rusnak
President, Philipsburg Revitalization Corporation
A billboard on the western edge of Philipsburg greets Route 322 motorists with a photo of Santa Claus exiting a bright yellow helicopter. The message above it: “Christmas in Philipsburg is Epic!”
Situated on the banks of the Moshannon Creek, Philipsburg is unlike any other town in Centre County. It’s an old coal town that still mines some coal. It’s a working-class town that’s still a little scrappy. It’s a town of deep history and immense heart. And it’s definitely a town of characters.
And so goes Philipsburg’s Christmas celebration.
This Saturday, December 13, the Philipsburg Revitalization Corporation (PRC) will host its second annual Mid-Century Christmas Celebration. The event arouses the nostalgia of a time when Philipsburg was a bustling town and creates a vision of what our town can be like again when we all work together.
A Mid-Century theme also offers something different from the traditional Victorian-style Christmas and gives everyone an opportunity to dig out their vintage Christmas decorations they swore would come back into style some day!
Storefronts are decorated with big colored lights, silver tinsel trees, color wheels, and 1950s caricatures of Santa.
Philipsburg’s Giant Santa (37.5 feet tall, to be exact), which was first painted and built by local artist Billy Adams in 1962, stands proudly at Cold Stream Dam, ready for selfies and pictures with the kids.
The mid-century celebration officially gets underway at 10:00 a.m. when downtown shops and restaurants open.
Several blocks of our historic downtown buildings have been revitalized (that’s a fancy way of saying we painstakingly reconstructed them after decades of abandonment and neglect).
Five youth bands will play live music all day. These kids are fantastic! Brave members of the Philipsburg-Osceola Select Choir will warm your hearts and ears from frigid street corners.
Brown Dog Coffee Shop will be open with a full menu, as well as hosting its annual soup sale. The Sweet Suite is your place for treats. Over at the Historic Simler House, hot wassail will be served from cast iron pots heated in the log home’s gigantic fireplace, perhaps just like John Henry Simler did when he built the place in 1807.
No one does Christmas like Philipsburg … and we mean no one. To prove it, at 12:30 p.m. Santa will land in a helicopter, right downtown on Front Street. This is the second year in a row Santa will arrive by chopper.
Naturally, Santa should arrive in a town of characters in epic fashion. But there’s a mid-century component to it as well—a helicopter arrival is based on a Philipsburg tradition from the 60s and 70s where one of the coal operators (they all had helicopters back then) would fly Santa to town to greet the kids.
The Historic Rowland Theatre—a treasure worth visiting Philipsburg for alone—will host a community (i.e., free) movie at 3:00 p.m., which is sponsored by the Philipsburg Elks Lodge and Country Club.
Following the movie, at 5:30 p.m., we will parade up Front Street to light the town Christmas tree. The catch: no float can be motorized or pulled by a motorized vehicle. Push it, pull it, roll it, or walk it. This is the first year Philipsburg is hosting this kind of parade, and it should be immense fun to see what participants bring!
After the tree lighting, head across the street to a town party at the Dead Canary Brewing Company, featuring the band “Southbound.” The Canary (another tip ‘o the hat to our coal mining legacy) is located in the beautifully restored Hoffer Building. The bar is made of old doors and radiators, salvaged from revamped buildings in town.
Although one can have an adult beverage at Dead Canary, it is truly a community space where the whole family will be comfortable.
If you haven’t been to Philipsburg in a while—or if you’ve never been at all—now is the time to come. We promise you will like what you see.
