Sue Sitter/PCT A float featuring Snoopy and Frosty the Snowman moves down Main Avenue in Rugby’s Annual Parade of Lights Saturday, Nov. 27.

Rugby businesses bustled with holiday activity after Thanksgiving as they celebrated Black Friday and Small Business Saturday with specials, drawings and even treats for youngsters.

The treats came courtesy of the Rugby Jaycees, who sponsored games and other free activities for children as part of their annual Grinchmas, held Saturday, Nov. 27.

The Grinch and the Jaycees decided to host their holiday happenings throughout town, beginning with a matinee showing of “The Grinch” at the Lyric Theater.

Taylor Sager, owner of This ‘N That, a downtown store selling one-of-a-kind vintage items, teamed up with the Grinch to collect letters to Santa Claus. Sager said he was sure the Grinch would give the letters to Santa Claus promptly, since his heart had grown three sizes according to his story told by Dr. Seuss.

“It must be the people of Rugby who filled his heart,” Sager said.

“It’s been good,” Sager said of the flow of shoppers to his store. “People have been coming in from out of town coming for the activities. The kids got to watch a free movie. It’s been consistently busy all day. A lot of people who haven’t been in our store have been blown away by what we have. It’s tough to say what people are most interested in because we have such a variety of things.”

“But,” Sager added, “otherwise, gifts for people have been kind of the theme of today. I heard a lot of people say, ‘Oh, Grandma would love this.’ There’s lots of variety and unique things.”

Also teaming up with the Grinch was I Design, where the Jaycees hosted a free ornament decorating station for children in their Makers’ Space.

“Kids come in and make their ornaments and then they’re free to take them home,” said Jaycees volunteer Lindsey Bush. “We’ve been packed since the movie got out.”

Bush and other Grinch helpers throughout town also gave out punch cards for their young visitors to take to each activity. Children had the opportunity to deposit their filled cards in drop boxes at each site to enter in a drawing for one of five gift baskets containing movie night treats such as popcorn and candy.

Tracy Corum and the staff at 3rd Street Station provided a long table in their dining room for children to use for cookie decorating. Sarah Burgard of the Jaycees gave each child a sugar cookie and small containers of icing and sprinkles to customize their own treats.

“I joined the Jaycees in May,” Burgard said. “I love Grinchmas. It’s so much fun,” she added. “We’ve been full the whole time,” Burgard said of the cookie decorating station.

A few blocks away, Heart of America Public Library hosted Mrs. Claus, who read the story of Little Bear and his family preparing for Santa’s visit to their home.

The Grinch paid visits to each activity station to supervise and pose for photos.

Christ Community Church welcomed the Grinch and young visitors, too.

Inside the church building, Grinch Helper Brittany Lovcik said, “They have different games with ring toss and Bingo with door prizes here. We have a little Grinch cutout they can put their faces in for photos. They have a hot cocoa bar, which they’re rocking. It looks delicious.”

“Also, we’re partnering with the Rugby Lions to put on Project Joy this year,” Lovcik said.

The Lions and Jaycees have set up Christmas trees in several Rugby businesses. Each tree is decorated with tags bearing the names of families and children in need during the holidays. The tags also have wish lists for each child or family. The tags are available for anyone wishing to make someone’s Christmas brighter with gifts they might otherwise not receive.

Inside Christ Community Church, Jean Dorn, wife of Pastor Gary Dorn, stayed busy serving cocoa and coffee. “All this is courtesy of the Chamber of Commerce, except for our home-baked goodies,” she said as she placed candy in a container. Plates of cookies and bars sat on a table near a row of syrups for coffee and cocoa.

Dorn’s helper, Cheryl Reyer said “Oh, my, it’s been busy here. This was supposed to start at 3:30, but we’ve been doing this since a quarter to three.”

“I think everyone’s having a good time,” Dorn said, smiling.

The Grinch walked past several stores that had promotions of their own. St. Michel Furniture celebrated both the holidays and their 24th anniversary with a drawing for items such as a $2,000 Ashley Furniture shopping spree.

Cindy Brossart of Cindy’s Country Cupboard said she had seen a steady stream of shoppers “both Friday and Saturday.”

“It’s been busy all day,” Jessica Brossart said at her store, Market on Main. “We have a tree set up for Project Joy. It has tags for people to pick up items for those in need.”

“People are crazy for all the Christmas gnomes and snowmen and light-up decorations that we have,” Jessica Brossart added. “I also have text message marketing that I started. People can sign up and I’ll be sending out messages about hours we’ll be open Black Friday, that kind of thing. They’ll also get a $5 coupon to use when they come back to the store.”

Stores farther from Main Avenue reported brisk sales as well. “It’s been super busy,” said Melissa Kraft at The Brown Lantern on Highway 2. “It’s been great. We’ve had a lot of people in. We have 30 percent off on everything unless otherwise marked. We had that yesterday and today.”

“We’ve seen a lot of people grabbing things for the holidays,” Kraft added. “Lots of them are shopping for themselves. A lot of people are shopping for Christmas decorations or gifts. Most people are interested in Christmas items.”

“It helps to have the Parade of Lights and people in town for that and the matinees,” Kraft added. “Hopefully, that’s helping people to stick around and shop local.”

The festivities ended with Rugby’s Annual Parade of Lights on Main Avenue, led by police, fire and ambulances decked out in strings of colorful bulbs.

Following the parade, the Rugby Chamber of Commerce treated area residents to a free concert by Ryan Keplin and the Keplin Band.