Wayne’s annual Holiday Night at the Museum

Santa and Ms. Claus arrive at Holiday Night at the Museum. Photo by Craig Hebert

Welcome back to another Spotlight Series with Sarah!
The series where the writer gets to know the city more personally, while the readers get to know the writer better in the process.
It’s funny how taking a certain class or playing a certain instrument can lead you to meeting your best friend. Sometimes it can happen because you decide to work at a certain place.
In 2016, I started working at a restaurant in Plymouth, which is where I met one of my best friends, Emmah.
I started off as a hostess. Emmah was a server and had been working there long before I was hired.
During my college semesters, I was working Friday mornings with Emmah’s older brother (who also worked there as a server). Eventually I switched to serving as well and slowly started getting to know Emmah better.
We were work-friends but in May 2018, we hung out outside of work for the first time and went to the movies with another coworker. Then in July 2018, we randomly decided to take a trip to Cedar Point together.
There’s something about long car rides, waiting in lines for hours, and riding roller coasters together that truly bonds you to a person.
After that, Emmah and I hung out on the regular: getting tattoos, dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, movie nights, and birthday parties for each other.
In July 2020, when I wanted to work on socializing my dog, Ezekiel (Zeke), with other dogs, Emmah began regularly walking her two dogs, Bear and Lola, with my dog. Once Zeke became comfortable with them, I would frequently bring him over to her house so our dogs could have playdates together in the backyard.
In March 2021, Emmah had her son, Theodore (Theo).

New toys were provided to all the children who visited Santa by Hill Crest Bible Church. Photo by Craig Hebert

I don’t have any children (only pets), Emmah is the first of my friends to have children, and as a first-time parent herself, there was a learning curve on how our friendship needed to adjust once kids came into the picture.
People say you find out who your true friends are when you have a wedding or have children, and we were determined to make our friendship work. So with a few uncomfortable conversations, we figured it out.
Then in December 2022, Emmah had her daughter, Morgan.
I’m proud to say that I have been present for Emmah’s kids as much as I possibly can, between: movie nights, birthday parties, babysitting, and school activities, to swimming, random trips to Target, or the Hands-On Museum.
I teared up the first time Theo and Morgan called me “Aunt Sarah.”
At some point, Emmah’s children are going to realize I’m not actually their aunt by blood — I’m just their mom’s best friend that became family, but I’ll always be Aunt Sarah.
As part of my auntie duties, I always try to mention family-friendly events to Emmah that she might want to bring the kids to.
Last month, I mentioned Wayne’s annual Holiday Night at the Museum to Emmah, and she thought her kids would love it. The day before the event, she started feeling under the weather, so her mom (Theo and Morgan’s grandma), Patti, offered to come with me and the kids instead.
So on Friday, December 6th, we took the kids to Holiday Night at the Museum.
Since I’ve been writing for The Wayne Dispatch for over three years now, I’ve written about this event before, but never attended it personally. So I was excited to finally experience it for myself.
We arrived in time to see the ending of the parade that kicked off the event. There was a firetruck, and Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus made their grand entrance.
The Mayor introduced Santa, and said a few words before the tree lighting ceremony outside the museum. Immediately following that was a fireworks display.
After the fireworks, Patti, the kids, and I made our way over to the DJ booth to grab gift bags for the kids and then headed inside Hill Crest Bible Church to get warm.
Inside Hill Crest, free cookies and hot chocolate were waiting for everyone to enjoy. I must add that the cookies were so warm and soft that the kids’ faces were covered in melted chocolate afterwards.

Ms. Claus, Morgan, Theo and Santa. Photo by Bill Hanenburg

There also was a craft area inside for the kids, which Theo and Morgan participated in.
Holiday Night had an ugly sweater theme this year, so Emmah bought Theo and Morgan some Grinch sweaters, while I happened to already have a Grinch sweater myself that I wore to match.
While Theo and Morgan were working on their crafts, the Grinch walked into Hill Crest and was taking photos with the event attendees. Of course, Theo, Morgan, and I had to snap a picture with the Grinch, and then we all bundled up to head back out into the cold.
We decided to get in line for the kids to meet Santa inside the museum. While we waited, we got to watch live ice carving happening right in front of us.
Everywhere you looked, something was happening. Aside from the Grinch, other costume characters attended the event as well, like Olaf and a giant nutcracker. There was a juggler riding a unicycle and outdoor games like connect four, cornhole, jenga, and putt putt.
If we got cold while waiting in line, we could walk over to the warming areas with fire pits. My hair smelled like a bonfire for the rest of the night.
It was a rather long wait for the kids to get their photo with Santa, so I would recommend getting some food beforehand. Several food trucks were at the event, including: Fun Food Express, G. Faz Pizza, and Fudgey Grandma’s Coffee.
After Theo and Morgan got their photo taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus, both of them were given toys, courtesy of Hill Crest Bible Church.
This is the eighth year in a row the Wayne Historical Society has planned Holiday Night. Hill Crest Bible Church has helped with the event for seven of those years and provides the toys given to the children.
This is the fourth year that Lisa Kubany, Wayne Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Marketing and Events Director has been involved.
“From my first year, it definitely has grown with what we have brought to the event,” said Kubany. “The museum and Hill Crest go above and beyond every year.”
The event was sponsored by the DDA, Hill Crest Bible Church, Wayne Historical Society, and Ford Motor Company. Kurt Jarman, Kurt’s Caps owner, provided the fire pits for the warming areas.
“Special thanks to our Wayne Police and Fire for participating,” said Kubany.
The Wayne Memorial High School Marching Band, Allstar Patriots Dance & Gym, and The Dance Academy performed in the parade, along with the Wayne Council and DDA Board.
The event also had hayrides and choirs and carolers including children from St. Joseph’s Catholic School. DJ Lutalo from The Dance Academy attended the event and held a dance contest with prizes.
“On behalf of the DDA, we would like to thank all of our sponsors and everyone that attends this event,” said Kubany. “Christmas in Wayne has become a highlighted event. We couldn’t wait to invite family, friends, and neighbors back to our festivities this year.”
The Wayne Historical Society is located at 1 Towne Square St. and is open Wednesday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Thursday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
If you want to learn about events, fundraisers, or more information about the museum, you can visit the website at facebook.com/waynehistoricalsociety. Or call (734)722-0113.
Be sure to attend Holiday Night at the Museum next year and be on the lookout for the next Spotlight Series with Sarah!