Metuchen BIL releases guide to holiday weekend in boro
METUCHEN — In an effort to encourage residents to shop locally, the Borough Improvement League (BIL) in coordination with local businesses and organizations, has compiled a guide to the many events taking place in town during the weekend of Dec. 2, including its well-known Holiday House Tour.
The guide will include a listing of Metuchen stores and restaurants, many of which will be offering weekend discounts and specials.
The BIL, which owns and maintains the historic Old Franklin School at 491 Middlesex Ave. in Metuchen, was founded in 1901 as a civic improvement society and is a nonprofit organization devoted to community service, preservation of the historic clubhouse, and improving the quality of life in the borough and its surrounding areas. The BIL also provides an annual $1,000 scholarship to a Metuchen high school senior, supports a variety of local charitable causes (such as food banks), and offers its clubhouse for community events; for example, the town’s annual Tree Lighting, which will be held Friday, Dec. 2.
Every year its biggest fundraiser is the Holiday House Tour, which will take place this year on Sunday, Dec. 4 (noon to 5 p.m). The tour consists of a bazaar, raffle, and refreshments at the Old Franklin School, the circa 1807 one-room schoolhouse, and then a self-guided tour of local homes opened up to the public by their owners.
One of the five homes on this year’s tour is a former governor’s home built in 1860s. In tribute to the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, the BIL has invited “Mary Todd Lincoln” to take up residence in the home on Sunday, along with a selection of local artists, craftspeople, and decorators who will also “inhabit” the mansion for the weekend. This event draws 350-550 people every year, many of whom come from out of town. The booklet listing the restaurants and shops given out as the guide to the House Tour often acts as an incentive for visitors to patronize those businesses.
Even local residents use the House Tour day as an opportunity to spend in town, shopping and dining, often discovering something new.
This draw of the House Tour prompted committee members to consider creating a small guide to everything happening in Metuchen during that first weekend of December, and including a listing of the restaurants and gift shops.
The guide was distributed at the Metuchen Area Chamber of Commerce’s WinterFest Parade on Nov. 27, and copies were made available to local businesses and groups to hand out.
Some of the events listed include the Borough Tree Lighting, Friday, Dec. 2; Metuchen High School’s production of “There Must Be SomeWay Out of Here,” Dec. 1-3, 7:30 p.m.; “Nutcracker” performance at the Forum Theatre, Dec. 3-4; Jingle Bell Run/Walk and Santa Chase for the Juvenile Arthritis Foundation, Dec. 4, New Street; St. Luke’s Christmas Fair, Dec. 3; the BIL Holiday House Tour, noon-5, Dec. 4; Live Nativity at the First Presbyterian Church, Dec. 10, 5-7 p.m.; and Neve Shalom Goods Services Auction, Dec. 10.