Downtown Country Christmas Festival, INC.

04/23/2026

Mr. Snyder and his JCHS students once again came to our rescue by helping move dozens of very heavy tubs of electric cords and Christmas lights from the pool house at Dolan Park to our Vine Street storage area.

As you can see in the last photo, we're not above bribing people with doughnuts. I also want to thank Bill and Cathie Ward and Linda Schaake for overseeing the operation.

And with that, the 2025 Christmas season is officially a wrap for Downtown Country Christmas. See you in November!!

04/15/2026

Beau is one of our hardworking volunteers. Great job, Beau!

Congratulations to the 3rd grade team from East Elementary who placed 3rd out of 32 teams in the 3rd and 4th grade Gifted Olympiad put on by ROE #40 and The Illinois Extension Office. There was a lot of great teamwork and creative thinking and we are proud of all our teams who competed in the STEM challenges. The 3rd place team pictured is Beau Ogden, Merrik Hamilton, Knox Mireles-Cook, and Wes Eilerman.

02/04/2026

Our annual meeting is tonight at 6:30. We’ll meet in the genealogy Research center of the Jersey County Historical Society. Anyone and everyone is welcome.

01/30/2026

Please don't forget to join us for our annual meeting Wednesday night, Feb. 4, at 6:30 pm in the Historical Society's genealogy research center. we hope to see you there.

01/08/2026

Thanks to a great work crew yesterday (including regulars Dennis McGlasson and Bill Ward, pictured here; Larry Foster, Beth McGlasson, and Cathie Ward) all the Christmas decor (except for the giant wreath) is down.

We'll spend the next 4 to 6 weeks sorting, repairing and storing supplies.

Goodnight Bumbles and sweet dreams until next Christmas season.

01/07/2026

Today's work crew - Larry Foster, Beth & Dennis McGlasson, Bill & Cathi Ward, and Jerseyville's Public Works Department - made huge progress at Dolan Park. We're on track to get everything down and inside tomorrow.

01/06/2026

Thanks to today's Dolan Park work crew: Aria (an 8th grader who simply wanted to help), the Schaake crew (Linda, Ryan, Rylee, and Ella), Cathi, and Dennis and Beth.

We got lots done, but there's more to do. If you can can lend a hand tomorrow morning, we'll meet in front of the pool house at 9 am.

01/04/2026

12/31/2025

With the 2025 holiday season in the rearview mirror, we want to thank everyone who supported DCCF this year and who helped make Jerseyville so festive – those who sponsored planter trees (and Will Strang for lighting them), the JCHS middle school students who created ornaments, and the JCHS students who painted and decorated windows. 11 businesses participated in our holiday window contest and nearly 600 people voted. What a great first year for the contest.

For the Bright Nights Celebration, Dolan Park featured 7 new lighted displays. We appreciate the sponsors who made that possible and everyone who lightened our workload – JCHS FFA students, Mr. Snyder and his JCHS students, Anita Driver and Marilyn Schroeder, Donna Richey, Sarah and Beau Ogden, Lindsey Miller, and Carissa, Charlie, Raelyn, Ramsey, and Rylee.

Most of all, thanks to Jason Jones and his amazing crew for all their help (we so appreciate you!), Bill and Cathi Ward, Linda Schaake (who worked so many hours), and especially Dennis McGlasson, who did the nightly Dolan Park drive-through.

If you took time to enjoy the Dolan Park light display, thank you. We hope it helped brighten your holiday. And if you made a donation as you drove through, thank you for your generosity.

Looking ahead to 2026, our board will create a weather contingency plan for the festival. Rescheduling an event that requires 100-plus volunteers isn’t feasible, but moving it indoors should be.

Thank you for helping the 2025 holiday season a success, and best wishes for 2026! If you have any suggestions regarding the festival or lights, please share them. We’d love to hear from you.

12/31/2025

Tonight is the final night for the 2025 Dolan Park Christmas display.

We'll meet in front of the pool house at Dolan Park Monday at 10 am to take down lights and displays. This isn't hard work, but it is time-consuming, so we welcome any and all help. If any high school students need service hour or are just willing to lend a helping hand, we'd love to have you join us.