FREMONT, Ohio — The national Christmas Tree lighting was last week, but you can experience another presidential Christmas event right here in northwest Ohio.
This Thursday, the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum will host a presidential Christmas event, with many free activities.
Visitors can enjoy the annual staples at the Hayes Train display or take a sleigh ride around Speigel Groves 25 acres.
And new this year, a local gingerbread competition, a raffle, and the main event of the night: the lighting of a Christmas tree outside the museum.
"We actually came up with the idea before the pandemic hit. So, it's to our benefit that it's outside because we're allowed to move forward with it and gives us more room for physical distancing," Kristina Smith said.
Because of COVID-19 regulations, the Hayes center had to limit the amount of people to sign up for the train display and sleigh rides on Thursday night, and now all reservation spots have been filled.
But they will still allow free admission to see the holiday train display through Saturday, Dec. 12.
The goal of this new presidential Christmas event is to possibly create a new holiday tradition in Fremont while also giving people a little relief from the stress of 2020
"It was important to us to give back to the community. This has been a really tough year for everybody, and we wanted to do something fun and festive. And it was important for us to obviously be able to do that with all of the safety protocols in place," Smith said.
This presidential Christmas celebration runs this Thursday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., with the tree lighting scheduled for 6 p.m.
The Hayes Center is also hosting Hayes Home holiday tours on Dec.19, 20, 22, and 23.
