Here is one community that benefited by staying with Christmas.
Budweiser Clydesdales in Dahlonega [Georgia]
by Fokes Link
DAHLONEGA - A crowd gathered at the Dahlonega Super Walmart shopping center on Wednesday to see the Budweiser Clydesdales, which are in the town this week to participate in the town's Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration, scheduled on Saturday.
The horses are staying at the Cottrell Ranch where they arrived on Monday.
"We've got them here for the week, and there's all kind of things going on," Said Mike Cottrell, "Tuesday Grace Episcopal School from Gainesville came up here and saw them at the ranch." On Thursday, Long Branch Elementary will visit.
"Friday," he continued, "They're at an open house at the ranch, and Saturday they're going to be in Dahlonega from 4 to 7 for the Old Fashioned Christmas." Cottrell said that the Clydesdales' visit was organized by his wife, Lynn Cottrell, "She's the one who needs all the credit."
"It was actually a joke," admitted Mrs. Cottrell. "My husband and I were on the Christmas Committee for Old Fashioned Christmas, and...they were just like, 'It would be neat.' It's just one of those things you see at Christmas, and they don't have to say anything. It's just the background, and just to see the horses and the wagon...So I took the idea and ran with it. And they're here!"
The crowd was very enthusiastic about the horses. Attendee Sherri Wells summed up the crowd's response, "They're beautiful! This is awesome! It's great! The kids are having fun, and it's just exciting to see, but we all wish we could take a ride."
Young Ashley Cummings declared, "Clydesdale horses are my favorite kind of horse!"
Together at the event, Shey Wilkey and Ginni Stapler said the the horses were beautiful, majestic and powerful. Stapler added, "They're awesome! I mean look how big they are!"
Lynn Stapler agreed, "They're awesome! They're definitely gentle giants...They're wonderful. They love to be pampered and touched."
She continued, "Budweiser has five teams throughout the United States, and they have three full time teams. This is a full time team and they stay on the road eleven months out of the year."
One of the team members shared about working with the horses, "It's an enjoyable job. It's a lot of travelling. We're going to Ocala, Florida on Sunday, and then Orlando for Christmas. We have three tractor trailers and a van that we carry with us. Yep, we're pretty much always on the road." They'll have a few more days of stasis in Dahlonega before they go back on the road.
"I hope everybody likes them," said Mrs. Cottrell, "There are actually thousands and thousands of people on the waiting list to get them. I got all the information about Dahlonega's Old Fashioned Christmas being in the top twenty [Christmas events] in the entire Southeast...It's very important to people around here."
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