She's wearing a bonnet, velvet waistcoat and 19th century button-up boots, but Jill Smoot doesn't look at all out of place.
In fact, surrounded by the wooden walkways, pioneer-era cabins and nostalgic storefronts at This Is the Place Heritage Park, the hostess fits right in. That's one reason Smoot recommended that her neighborhood association throw their annual holiday party at the park — so guests could be transported to a time when Christmas was a little different.
"I like how you can go back in time and get back to the simplistic meaning of what Christmas is all about and the pureness of what Christmas is," Smoot said. "You can leave that commercialization behind you. You just don't get that feeling here at all."
In previous years, the park's candlelight Christmas program has recreated pioneer holiday celebrations for one or two weekends in December, but this year, This Is the Place Heritage Park has extended the "Journey of Light" celebration until Dec. 22.
The extended Christmas program is part of the park's overall goal to be more accessible to the public, park executive director Matt Dahl said. For the first time, the park has been open every day in 2007, and will continue to be open for the rest of the year, except on Christmas Day.
The change has helped the park bring in more donations and community support, Dahl says. But most of all, being open all year long has brought about 80,000 more visitors than last year.
"I liken it to a grocery store," Dahl said. "If you were only open every third Saturday, customers would have to remember when you're open and plan their schedule accordingly. Here, you know it's open. You don't know specifically if we have a special event going on, but the base plan will be there for you to enjoy."
So far, Dahl says hundreds have come each night to the "Norman Rockwell version of Christmas" program to stroll the streets, drink cider poured by "Mother Young" and gaze at the live Nativity.
The historic buildings, cheery characters in winter cloaks and smell of smoldering pit fires have a calming effect on visitors, says park board member Hugh Barlow.
Barlow has encountered people from as far away as England, Germany and Israel at the park in the past year or two who have been intrigued by the park's purpose. Those who come — especially during Christmastime — aren't disappointed, Barlow said.
"It's a very romantic, exciting kind of venue here where you can, at your own leisure, enjoy something that is a little more peaceful and not so much hustle and bustle," Barlow said. "In my life, I've seen the hustle and bustle take over things and it's nice for me to come back and have a little bit more of a peaceful kind of Christmas. ... I think, frankly, a lot of people like that."
E-mail: achoate@desnews.com