Visitors of all ages will have plenty of activities to choose from Thursday evening as part of an effort to bring people downtown and enjoy the holiday season.

The event, “A Not So Silent Night,” from 4 to 8 p.m., will feature free horse-drawn carriage rides, carolers and an elf scavenger hunt, said Erin Hawkins, director of marketing at the Columbus Area Visitors Center.

Participating stores will offer sales on holiday gift items. Restaurants and bars will be offering food and beverage specials during the event as well.

“Our goal with this event is to activate downtown and give people lots of reasons to stay out a little later than usual and get into the holiday spirit,” Hawkins said. “It’s also a great way to support our local merchants.”

The elf scavenger hunt for children 12 and younger will bring them to 14 local businesses, where they can get a card stamped.

Scavenger hunt cards can be picked at the visitors center, 506 Fifth St., and turned in at the same location before 8 p.m. Thursday for a chance to win a grand prize package or four other prize packages, which will include items from downtown Columbus businesses.

The public can also visit Santa Claus from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at The Commons.

Diane Robbins, president of the Columbus Downtown Merchants’ Association, said the goal of “A Not So Silent Night” is to create a festive evening that engages a broad audience while also driving traffic to downtown businesses.

Food donations for the Love Chapel are also being collected and can be dropped off at downtown stores and at the main tent next to The Commons.

Last year’s Downtown Merchants’ Association event was called the Ugly Sweater Holiday Stroll. Hawkins said the goal this year is intended to get people downtown, but noted that it appeared that people felt too much pressure to wear over-the-top holiday garb.

This year’s theme has a broader approach, she said.

Jeff Baker, owner of Baker’s Fine Gifts & Accessories, said he is looking forward to Thursday’s event.

“I always enjoy the holidays because it’s the one time where people are happy and in a good mood,” Baker said. “A lot of times, we can eliminate the stresses in their lives.”

The business, which also plans to offer refreshments to customers, will also offer a 10 percent discount on purchases for anyone wearing an ugly sweater.

The White River Running Company, 325 Fifth St., will also be hosting an ugly sweater two-mile fun run/walk from the store beginning at 5:30 p.m. to celebrate its second year in business.

There is no charge to enter the fun run and prizes will be awarded for ugliest sweater. The store will serve refreshments and have prize giveaways after the fun run/walk.

The kidscommons children’s museum will also be taking part in the downtown holiday event from 5 to 8 p.m. with childcare being provided.

Youth ages 3 to 12 can spend an evening eating pizza, playing holiday games and make two gifts to take home while their parents are shopping, said Robbins, who also serves as community relations/marketing manager at the museum.

Pre-registration is required by today at a cost of $12 for members and $16 for non-members. Registration can be completed by visiting the museum, 309 Washington St., or by calling 812-378-3046.

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What: “A Not So Silent Night” event featuring free horse-drawn carriage rides, carolers, Santa Claus at The Commons, an elf scavenger hunt and shopping at downtown businesses. The kidscommons children’s museum will allow kids ages 3 to 12 to play holiday games and make two gifts to take home from 5-8 p.m. with reservations being required.

Where: Downtown Columbus

When: 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday

Cost: Free (Fee for kids activities at the kidscommons children’s museum are $12 for members and $16 for non-members. Pre-registration is required by Dec. 12.)

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Columbus Municipal Airport officials are exploring whether commercial airline service is feasible in the city.

The airport plans to compile results of a feasibility study into a report that is expected to be released in January. Officials closed a month-long survey earlier this week that asked members of the public whether they would be interested in commercial airline service for business or leisure purposes. The survey also asked respondents what airports they typically use to travel.

If the airport and the community find that commercial air service is feasible, the next step would be to see how many Columbus residents fly out of airports in Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Louisville, airport director Brian Payne said.

Payne said Detroit is one possible city the Columbus Municipal Airport could provide commercial air travel to, due to the availability of time slots.

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“We know as an automotive city, a lot of businesses here are sending people to Detroit quite commonly,” Payne said.

Commercial air service to Detroit was launched in November 2011, with direct flights between Columbus Municipal Airport and Willow Run Airport west of Detroit — available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Service was discontinued after about a year, however, when there wasn’t enough interest to make it financially feasible, Payne said.

The focus at the time appeared to center on two of the city’s largest automotive suppliers — Cummins and Faurecia — and wasn’t marketed effectively to other businesses in the Columbus area, Payne said.

Jason Hester, president of the Greater Columbus Economic Development Corp., said he thinks having commercial air service in place would be a good move.

More than half of the top 25 manufacturing employers in the Columbus area are automotive suppliers, and many of them already have established relationships in the Detroit area, Hester said.

“We do know there are local employers that routinely and regularly travel to Detroit,” Hester said.

If the airport were able to attract commercial flights out of Columbus, it would be another tool to help market the community, he said.

Cindy Frey, president of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, said she agrees that implementing commercial air service out of Columbus would be beneficial.

Anything that helps local businesses be connected with their customers or suppliers is a plus, Frey said.

The survey was developed as part of work done by airport intern Rody Boef, who is studying aviation management at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Payne said.

The airport received more than 400 survey responses and also reached out to individuals around the airport through direct-mailing efforts to get their thoughts on commercial air service.

Costs tied to security-screening measures and other regulations with the federal Transportation Security Administration would need to be explored before making a decision, Payne said.

Such details will be evaluated as part of Boef’s overall analysis, Payne said.

“At the end of the day, you’re talking maybe one or two additional flights a day,” Payne said. “It’s very minimal from an operations standpoint.”

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A report detailing the possibility of commercial airline service at the Columbus Municipal Airport based on survey results will be compiled. That report is expected to be completed in January.

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As the city’s oldest surviving charity has gained popularity over the years, so has its ability to gain support among individuals, organizations and businesses throughout the community.

For example, Dorel Juvenile Group increased its total annual donation to the 86-year-old Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund from $5,000 to about $12,000 this year.

The department store Kohl’s also began giving money to the Cheer Fund as a match for volunteer hours provided by their employees, said Cheer Fund co-organizer Jay Smith.

“It’s just incredible,” Smith said.

“There’s so many businesses and organizations that are so generous.”

While expressing his sincere gratitude for corporate giving, it’s the lesser-known examples of generosity made by individuals with limited resources that another co-chairman, Chris Owens, said touches his heart the most.

For example, Cheer Fund organizers put out a single post on the charity’s Facebook page during the last week of November that they needed used gifts appropriate to give to 12-year-olds.

“The next thing you know, all this stuff was piled up at the United Way building,” Owens said. “It looked as if we had just opened a gate and released a flood of toys.”

Or there was the time last summer when Owens woke up on the morning of a big Cheer Fund event — and realized he had forgotten to order enough doughnuts to feed more than 100 people.

Although he immediately called the Kroger store in Columbus and was willing to pay full price, Owens said he still didn’t expect the store’s bakery staff would be able to provide hundreds of doughnuts on just a few hours notice.

“They not only got them made, but the store picked up half the tab and their employees took up a donation to pay the balance — all in just in a few hours,” Owens said.

Despite the high esteem the Cheer Fund enjoys throughout Bartholomew County, there are still times when the charity has to balance ambition with reality.

While there was an unsuccessful effort to obtain expensive video games and high-dollar electronics desired by older children, the Cheer Fund did the next best thing by securing gift cards from Disc Replay in the Northern Village Shopping Center, Owens said.

Over the past nine decades, the Cheer Fund has enjoyed many loyal supporters, but other holiday assistance programs have emerged, too.

But from Owens’ perspective, it doesn’t matter which charity provides donations.

“It’s all about the kids, and letting them know that somebody cares,” Owens said.

“We all work together as a community and operate as a network,” Smith added. “If we get something that isn’t our niche, we can hand it off to another group better able to handle it. We all lean on one another.”

For the rest of his life, Isaiah Rodgers may never have another birthday quite like his first.

The serenity just before dawn outside the toddler’s new home near Ninth and Chestnut streets in Columbus was suddenly disrupted when a clatter arose at about 7:15 a.m. Saturday.

After his mother carried him to the window, what to Isaiah’s wondering eyes should appear — but one of the biggest sleighs ever to emerge from the North Pole.

“Look, Isaiah,” Ashley Rodgers said to her toddler son. “It’s Santa!”

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Stepping off the back of the brightly-illuminated red sleigh that featured changing colored lights on the wheels was indeed the most recognizable holiday icon of all time, carrying a box load of gifts to Isaiah’s front door.

When Kris Kringle set the box on the family’s table, Isaiah became the first of almost 1,200 children to receive toys, clothing and other goodies from the Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund in 2016.

As Santa held him in his arms moments later, Isaiah couldn’t help but smile while feeling the texture of that world renowned beard (absolutely real) before playing with the furry white ball at the end of St. Nick’s red stocking cap.

After leaving the house, it was Santa who was grinning from ear to ear.

“This just blows my mind,” said the jolly old elf, who bears a resemblance to Ralph Childers of Housing Partnership, Inc. “This is what Christmas is all about for me.”

On his first birthday, Isaiah — who moved to town with his mother just a few weeks ago from Whiteland — had his initial meeting with Santa while receiving his first presents that will help mark his first Christmas in Columbus.

And even though the Cheer Fund is now 86 years old, Bartholomew County’s oldest charity still in existence also experienced its share of firsts. For example, organizers decided to recruit both Santa and the antique sleigh — a 1937 Cummins diesel-powered open-cabbed Stutz fire engine — to deliver the first presents of the morning.

Inside the warehouse of the Doug Otto United Way Center, the more than 40 volunteers who manned six stations inside the Doug Otto United Way Center warehouse also were experiencing something new. Several refinements to the former loading process designed to increase efficiency were outlined before the first vehicles were allowed inside to load up at 7 a.m.

“The needs of the community are ever changing, so the Cheer Fund always has to be changing to meet those needs,” nine-year volunteer Melissa Wilson said.

When the United Way 2-1-1 of South Central Indiana stopped taking applications Dec. 2, about 1,100 children had been approved to receive toys and other gifts through the Cheer Fund, co-chairman Chris Owens said.

However, more than 100 additional families — including many whose parents missed the deadline — were placed on a waiting list over the following week, and told assistance only will be provided if there were sufficient funds or supplies.

Although the waiting list has historically been as high as 250 kids, there’s never been a time when they couldn’t find the resources to serve all qualified children on that list, said Jay Smith, another of the event’s co-chairmen.

“When we say we have an outpouring of kids, the community will back us up every time,” Smith said. “We never really have to worry because we know it’s going to happen.”

The total number of children helped will continue to go up between now and Christmas Day, due to last-minute requests and providing help to other holiday assistance programs that need it.

There will be other firsts in the future. Due to a need for space for housing nonprofit organizations, the Cheer Fund must find a new headquarters when their lease for the warehouse expires three years from now, co-chairman Jarrad Mullis said.

Efforts are underway to find local property owners who have a building that might fit the charity’s needs, Mullis said.

But while change may always be inevitable, hundreds of volunteers have made the Cheer Fund as important a Christmas tradition in their lives as decorated trees, present exchanges and stocked stuffings are in the holidays experienced by many local families.

One tradition is seeing a line of cars and trucks already stretching for four blocks outside the Doug Otto Center a half-hour before deliveries are made.

For the sixth consecutive year, Jeff and Chandra Tobias of West Goeller Road were the first in line Saturday morning to deliver cheer boxes.

However, those bragging rights were almost forfeited Saturday. Arriving at 5 a.m. — a half-hour later than last year — the Tobias family found out that Touchdown Machining Inc. President Samuel Wilcoxon had actually gotten there before they did.

“But (Wilcoxon) wasn’t sure this was the right place, so he went over to the Washington St fire station,” Jeff Tobias said. “We kind of snuck in right under the gun.”

Another tradition is the goody bags Sam and Fran Simmermaker make. This year, the well-known radio sportscaster and his wife, a retired educator, prepared about 1,250 containing a mix of fresh fruit and assorted holiday candies.

Every year, many warehouse volunteers sport festive holiday clothing while loading up vehicles and simultaneously dancing to upbeat and energetic holiday music.

But the most noticeable tradition in both the warehouse — and in the delivery vehicles — are the smiling and excited faces of children.

“I bring my three kids every year because I want them to see that it’s more than just getting,” said Chasity Smith, who has helped the charity for seven consecutive years. “They love it. And for me, it wouldn’t be the same without them.”

As organizers explain it, seeing all those young volunteers making the Cheer Fund part of their Christmas tradition virtually assures the nearly century-old Cheer Fund will continue well after they are gone.

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Number of children receiving assistance through the Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund over the past five years.

2016 (preliminary): Slightly less than 1,200 (more expected to be helped; exact figures available after Christmas).

2015: 1,222

2014: 1,503

2013: 1,357

2012: 1,238

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