Downtown Mac staging open house
Downtown McMinnville will be staging its annual holiday open house today.
Free carriage and wagon rides will be offered from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., setting out from McMenamins Hotel Oregon and Buchanan Cellers in the Granary District. Some musicians will perform at sponsoring businesses as others stroll along Third Street, starting at 11 a.m. and continuing into the evening.
Santa will visit McMenamins, Hopscotch Toys and Cornerstone Coffee. A Stuff the Bus collection at the US Bank Plaza, coordinated by the Willamette Valley Medical Center, will generate food and toys for the Yamhill Community Action Partnership and local foster children.
Visitors may want to take the time to check award-winning window decorations as well. Accessory Appeal took top honors, followed by Cupcake Couture and Mes Amies.
For complete details on the open house, see the schedule listed in today's edition.
FIGHTING BACK
Sylla McClellan, owner of Third Street Books and Yamhill Valley Dry Goods in downtown McMinnville, is fighting back against a recent announcement by Amazon, the online retailing colossus.
Amazon is offering shoppers up to $5 off on the purchase of goods they find in local scores today, provided they use a mobile app to scan the bar code and send the source, price and location information in.
In response, McClellan has launched a "Ditch Amazon Day" movement.
She is offering her customers a 15 percent discount, plus a $5 gift card, in exchange for proof that they closed their Amazon account in protest. The gift cards can be used in either of her stores, but not the Holiday Market operating out of her dry good store, as it features independent vendors.
For more information, call 503-472-7786.
OPEN SUNDAYS
The McMinnville Public Market, which normally limits its operations to 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays, will operate the same hours on the Sundays of Dec. 11 and 18 as well. It is located at 755 N.E. Alpine St., in the Granary District.
Santa will be available for photos from 2 to 6:30 p.m. those days. Customers will be allowed to take their own photos for free or purchase a professional set on a disc for $15, which proceeds going to the Yamhill Community Action Partnership.
For more information, call 503-550-3812.
CANDIDATES' FORUM
A 1st Congressional District forum featuring Suzanne Bonamici, nominee of the Democratic and Independent parties, and Rob Cornilles, nominee of the Republican Party, has been scheduled for noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13. Cornilles will speak from 12 to 12:30 and Bonamichi from 12:30 to 1.
The event will begin with a hot buffet lunch, to be served at 11:45. It will be held in the McMinnville Grand Ballroom, upstairs at 325 N.E. Third St.
It is a joint production of the McMinnville City Club and McMinnville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Admission, which runs $15, is by reservation only. The deadline is noon Monday at 503-472-6196.
YOOP FUNDRAISER
The Yamhill Youth Opportunity Program will be the beneficiary of a give-back program Wednesday, Dec. 14, at the Ruby Tuesday restaurant at 1101 N.E. Highway 99W.
The restaurant will give YOOP, a Chehalem Youth and Family Services program, 20 percent of the cost of meals purchased by customers citing the promotion as a "give-back." To make a reservation or get more information, call 503-472-5458.
Molly Walker, the News-Register's business editor, can be reached at mwalker@newsregister.com or 503-687-1272.
