STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — All along the storefronts of downtown Steubenville, Ohio sit life-size, handcrafted nutcrackers. From Christmas classics like Scrooge and the Mouse King to everyday workers like beekeeper Honey Nut and Farmer Fred, there’s a nutcracker for everyone who visits.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Steubenville’s Nutcracker Village which consists of over 200 handcrafted nutcrackers. What started out as a way to revitalize a former coal town has quickly become a tourist destination for people all over the country.
“Going from our small community of 18,000 to 96,000 people who are walking and staying in the area for more than an hour, that impact on the local community has really done a lot for businesses to be able to stay open downtown,” said Therese Fedoryka, event coordinator and nutcracker designer.
How it started
The idea to create a nutcracker village was brainstormed by local business owners in Steubenville’s Beautification Committee in 2015. Members were discussing plans for the annual Christmas parade but hit a roadblock.
“There were no reasons for people to stay in town after the Christmas parade was over,” Fedoryka said. Many of Steubenville’s storefronts closed after the fallout of the coal and steel industry.
The leader of the board came up with the idea to collect nutcrackers and put them in front of each empty store as a way to encourage locals to walk around downtown.
But Fedoryka’s dad Mark Nelson had a better idea. As the owner of his own woodworking shop, he thought the family could make life-size nutcrackers. Brodie Stutzman, Mark’s son-in-law, made the first nutcracker, and it was a success.
So, from November to December, he made 37 more, many of which were sponsored by local business owners. The design of these sponsored nutcrackers often corresponded with each business, like a baker for the bakery and a police officer for the police station.
According to Fedoryka, the first Christmas village saw a fantastic turnout. “It was a dying coal mill town and most of the local events had the same hundred people at all of them,” Fedoryka said. “We were so surprised that year when most of the city of Steubenville came down to see the Christmas village.”
The two-day weekend saw 18,000 visitors, and by Christmas that year, the Nelsons had 100 applications for new nutcrackers. With the village’s first year a success, the Nelsons decided to keep going. They opened up their Christmas store, Nelson Fine Art and Gifts, the following year and made 75 more nutcrackers for a total of over 100.
Evolution
As more nutcrackers appeared on the streets, the designs and body types began to evolve. The original nutcrackers were all boys, but by year two, they started creating girl shapes with ballerinas.
The sizes also changed. Instead of the 6-foot traditional nutcracker, Stutzman made a 9-foot Mouse King and a 3-foot Hermey the Misfit Elf from Rudolph. Many nutcracker applications, however, were becoming repetitive. In order to diversify the nutcrackers, Fedoryka began encouraging business owners to think outside the box.
For instance, Stutzman and Fedoryka encouraged a local dentist’s office to commission Hermey instead of another dentist nutcracker. In Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Hermey aspires to be a dentist.
Today, 210 nutcrackers are on display in downtown Steubenville, and each year they unveil 10 new nutcrackers. Some of the new nutcrackers this year include Cinderella, a prisoner of war to honor the military, a nutcracker riding a bicycle and Flick, the pole-licking kid from the classic film “A Christmas Story.”
For nutcracker enthusiast Kimberly Smith, the new nutcrackers keep her coming back. Smith is from Salineville, Ohio, and has been coming to Steubenville’s Nutcracker Village for four years. She comes to the village with her husband at least three times during the season, and this year she brought her young nephew.
“(We like) to see the new ones and visit the market down at the fort. My husband gets honey from the bee people and we get nutcrackers while we’re down at the fort as well,” Smith said. “It’s just becoming a tradition, something to do together.”
Every season, the Nelsons’ Christmas store sells mini replica ornaments of the life-size nutcrackers. Smith will be buying this year’s nutcrackers to add to her collection.
Others like first-time visitors Mary Beth Barnes and Gretchen Persinger traveled from Pittsburgh to see the village. They liked so many nutcrackers it was hard to pick a favorite.
“We got a picture with the Steeler one,” Barnes said, as Persinger chimed in “We also liked the Wizard of Oz ones. There’s something for everyone.”
Rebuilding
Since the Nutcracker Village began, more storefronts have moved into downtown Steubenville.
According to Fedoryka, there were only three stores open downtown in 2015: two appliance stores and a vacuum shop. Today, Fedoryka says every building is purchased by a landowner interested in revitalizing the structure, and there are 20 new businesses, including gift shops and restaurants.
Last Christmas, 96,000 people traveled through downtown Steubenville.
Although Fedoryka is happy people are taking an interest in Steubenville again, she reminds people of the Nutcracker Village’s true goal: building up the local community.
“It wasn’t meant to be a tourist destination when we started,” Fedoryka, said. “It was really intended to bring about local pride and hope from the local community, to have them be interested in the downtown, because there’s just no point in kicking off a revitalization of an area where the inhabitants don’t care.”
The Steubenville Nutcracker Village is up from Nov. 26 to Jan. 10 and features an Advent Market where vendors sell decorations, food, farm products and more. The market is open every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. until Jan. 6.
There’s also a Children’s Corner where kids can take photos with Santa Claus, make crafts and play games. The corner is open Fridays from 4-8 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 1-8 p.m.
For more information, visit www.steubenvillenutcrackervillage.com.
(Liz Partsch can be reached at epartsch@farmanddairy.com or 330-337-3419.)
