Downtown Sunday: Reindeer, vaccines, shopping specials

Dec. 15, 2021  |  By Waterbury Roundabout 

Prancer the reindeer at the Vermont Reindeer Farm in West Charleston in the Northeast Kingdom. Courtesy photo

This post was updated Dec. 16.

Holiday shopping on Sunday, Dec. 19, will have downtown merchants offering special events, a visit by two reindeer, and a free pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic. 

Stowe Street merchants will host a special visit from the Northeast Kingdom by Dasher and Cupid on outside near Bridgeside Books and Stowe Street Cafe. The event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ties in with special doings at downtown shops including customer appreciation day at Stowe Street Emporium (spend $100 and get a $25 gift card to a local restaurant), reindeer games at Tiny Acorn, and ornament decorating at Tabbatha Henry Designs.

Local Girl Scouts from Troop #30228 will have handmade ornaments for sale for $2 each with proceeds going to Good Samaritan Haven in Barre. 

COVID-19 vaccines will be available at the Waterbury Area Senior Center also 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for anyone age 5 and up. Boosters are available for those 16 and older. No appointment is necessary. Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines at healthvermont.gov/myvaccine. 

At the pop-up clinic, everyone receiving a shot will get a $5 Waterbury Bucks certificate to spend at more than 50 participating local businesses. (Details on that program are online at discoverwaterbury.com/waterbury-bucks.)

In order to accommodate the reindeer visitors, part of the parking lot on Bidwell Lane between Stowe Street Emporium and Bridgeside Books will be closed to vehicle traffic starting at 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Nearby parking is available at Brookside Primary School on Stowe Street, at the Waterbury Train Station, street parking, and the paid lot on South Main adjacent to Bidwell Lane.

The reindeer visit is sponsored by Bridgeside Books, Stowe Street Cafe, Stowe Street Emporium, K.C.'s Bagel Cafe, Axel's Gallery & Frame Shop, Tabbatha Henry Designs, the American Legion Post 59, and the Vermont Reindeer Farm.

The vaccine clinic is organized with the Waterbury Area Senior Center, Waterbury Ambulance Service, the Vermont Department of Health and Revitalizing Waterbury.