Maybe you've had enough of the Black Friday (Black Thursday?) Cyber Monday hoopla already - and it's still November, thanks to an early date for Thanksgiving this year. But how about some authentic hoopla, free for everyone, that ushers in December and the holiday season with old-fashioned fun? 

On December 1st, from 4 - 7pm, the Dundalk Renaissance Corporation is bringing the Historic Dundalk Holiday Hoopla and Cookie Tour to the community once again. It begins at 4pm at Shipping Place with the Christmas parade that travels to Heritage Park, with Santa and Mrs. Claus as the procession's finale. Immediately following the parade, they take their places in the park and visit with every child that wants to have that special chat. We thank the Dundalk-Eastfield Rec Council for arranging this part of the celebration. The DRC Center Place Holiday Street Fair follows, from 5 - 7pm, and everyone is invited to have cocoa, cookies, and enjoy the music. Vendors, crafts for the kids, letters to Santa, the Baltimore County Bookmobile and a moon bounce are part of the event, and this year we've added a 6' x 10' gingerbread house, decked out by the ESOL students at Dundalk High School. Once again, the United States Marines will have their table to collect Toys for Tots, and they welcome new, unwrapped toys to make the holidays merrier for many families.

The Main Street Cookie Tour is really a "trick or treats" version to collect cookies rather than candy. Businesses are supplied with home-baked cookies, thanks to the many volunteers in the Baking Brigade, and everyone is invited to visit them with their Holiday Hoopla bags. In 2011, 3,600 confections were handed out! The Dundalk High School student bakers produced 100 dozen last year, and we look forward to their amazing cookies again this year.

The Dundalk-Patapsco Neck Historical Society and Museum welcomes guests to their Train Garden from noon to 7pm (that attraction runs through January 6th).

This is a day for making memories, taking pictures and enjoying friends and family with an absolutely stress-free day that is absent from so much of our holiday preparations. Plan to come - see what the Hoopla is all about!