Dickens Festivities Light Up Town

ABC News On Campus reporter Meghan Lisson blogs: I live in Skaneateles, a little town in the heart of the Finger Lakes region of New York State.  Boutiques and little shops line the main road through the village.  We have one very blue lake and one very white gazebo.  It’s your typical small town, except for one minor detail. When I come home for Thanksgiving break, some rather odd visitors are always in town — no, I don’t mean my relatives.  Charles Dickens characters straight out of “A Christmas Carol” roam the streets in celebration of Dickens Christmas.  It’s like your English lit class come to life, minus the 25-page term paper.  The air is alive with the smell of roasting chestnuts, knots of people decked out in Victorian-era clothes sing carols on every corner, a horse-drawn carriage offers rides and, if you’re lucky, you might just run into Queen Victoria or Tiny Tim.  I had the good fortune to sit down with Charles Dickens (aka Jim Greene) and Ebenezer Scrooge (aka Bob Krigbaum), the humbug everyone loves to hate.  “Her Majesty Queen Victoria and I have come across the pond as they say to visit Skaneateles.” Dickens said. “I’ve been taking notes and Mr. Scrooge says the most outlandish things about Christmas being a humbug.” Scrooge’s reply wasn’t surprising.  “What’s Christmas anyway?” Scrooge said with a snarl.  “You’re just another year older and not even an hour richer!” But while Scrooge might not approve of Christmas, he and Dickens both quickly pointed out that they get visitors from all over the country — and the world.  This weekend they’d already met people from Florida, Illinois and even England.  Festivities almost hit a snag this year, when 150 trucks rolled through town in protest of the state’s plan to prevent truckers from avoiding tolls on local roads.   But even that couldn’t keep the holiday spirit down; Dickens and Scrooge said it was one of the biggest opening days they could remember.    Dickens Christmas kicks off the day after Thanksgiving and runs every weekend until Christmas. For more details on Dickens Christmas, click here. And, just in case you’re wondering, roasted chestnuts are quite good.  They taste a little bit like chicken.