Horse-Drawn Trolleys, Ice Sculptures Return for 'Christmas Aglow' in Clinton Township

If the promise of horse-drawn trolley rides, brilliant light displays and stunning ice sculptures don’t lure you to Clinton Township’s “Christmas Aglow,” Parks and Recreation Director Linda Walter said the cookies should do it.

“We have really good cookies,” Walter said.

A longstanding township tradition, the 2012 Christmas Aglow event will take place rain or snow Saturday, Dec. 8, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Civic Center on Romeo Plank Road at Canal.

Preparing for a maximum of 2,500 people, Walter said she expects this year to be one of the best in the event’s history.

“This year we’ve lit the wagons, so the horse-drawn trolleys will actually loop through the woods along our recreation trail,” Walter said. “We have beautiful Belgian horses from Capac. It’s a charming throwback to Christmas past.”  

The evening festivities start off at the Civic Center gazebo where children from McGlinnen, Tenniswood and Green elementary schools will sing Christmas songs as guests await the arrival of Santa Claus.

“When we’re very lucky – and good – Santa finds us and we light the lights,” Walter said. “We have a tremendously large tree with 4,000 lights and then the entire gazebo, which looks like a gingerbread house. Suddenly all the lights are lit and we call it Christmas.”

Walter says guests should expect to spend at least the first 35 minutes of the event outdoors. While Santa and the refreshments will be inside the Civic Center, the horse-drawn trolleys, candy cane hunt and ice sculptures will be outside – none of which is to be missed, according to Walter.

“Our ice sculptures come from Jeff Wolf, an instructor at Macomb Community College, and he usually brings a couple of students with him,” Walter said. “Usually, he will build two sculptures before we start and actively carve during the event. On one sculpture, he’ll engrave the kids’ names.”

While there is no fee to attend the event, guests are asked to donate non-perishable food items to benefit township families in need.

Collection barrels will be located at the gazebo and Civic Center gym and all donations will benefit 80 township families who are identified by the township. 

“I think most people come now as a tradition,” Walter said. “People come home and expect this. It is on everyone’s must-do list. And there’s always the children’s excitement. There’s that moment when we’re standing in the dark and then, ‘Bam!’ everything lights up … you feel really good when it’s over.”