Luverne community to 'go nuts' with holiday nutcracker theme

Christmas is more than 12 weeks away, but local planners are working on a project they hope will make Luverne a holiday destination.
The Luverne Area Chamber, Rock County Historical Society, Luverne Initiatives for Tomorrow Design Committee and the city of Luverne are partnering in promoting Luverne as “The Nutcracker Capital of the Midwest.”
In an email to Chamber members, Chamber Director Jane Wildung Lanphere explained how nutcrackers were selected as a theme.
“We need to give all the credit to Betty Mann,” she said. “Betty gave her wonderful collection of 2,500 nutcrackers to the Rock County Historical Society.”
The collection is now on permanent display at the History Center, which will soon open in the former Ford dealership on East Main Street.
“Residents and visitors will be able to see this wonderful collection 52 weeks out of the year,” Lanphere said. “People will be able to connect nutcrackers and Luverne anytime.”
To help make that connection, she said the goal is to get as many nutcrackers as possible outside businesses or homes for the Christmas season and to keep building on that theme in the future.
“We are inviting you to become part of this movement ... part of all things nutcracker in Luverne for Christmas 2016,” Lanphere wrote in her Sept. 21 letter to businesses.
She said the Chamber will sponsor a “nutcracker-go” contest (similar to a scavenger hunt) for individuals and families to participate in during the month of December.
Beginning at the Winterfest Arts & Crafts Show Dec. 3 and ending on Dec. 23, people will be able to pick up the entry form with a map of the businesses or residences participating so that they can drive or walk to these locations to “uncover” the names of the nutcracker.
Entries with the correct names will be put in a drawing where six names will be drawn to receive $50 Chamber gift cards.
There will be no cost for a business or residents to be part of the game, but registration (the name of the nutcracker and its participating address) is due Nov. 15 by calling the Chamber, 507 283-4061 or emailing luvernechamber@co.rock.mn.us.
The only requirement is that the nutcracker be at least 4 feet tall and be outside or seen from the outside 24 hours per day. The nutcracker’s name must be at least 1 ½ inches high.
Nutcrackers can be attached to the outside of a business or placed in a yard.
Buildings with glass lobbies may display nutcrackers inside as long as they can be seen from outside.
Nutcrackers can be secured to a boulevard sign, tree or railing on participants’ properties.
“Ideas about where to put nutcrackers are endless,” Lanphere said. “All you have to do is make sure that you are OK with people coming up to the nutcracker and looking for the nutcracker’s name.”
To get a nutcracker:
•buy them in stores in Luverne or the surrounding area or find them online.
•build one. The Chamber has a set of directions on how to build a life-size nutcracker. Luverne’s Terrie Gulden has even built a couple of samples.
•contact the Chamber to borrow one of its 7-foot-tall nutcrackers. “We have a couple of plywood ones left and cut it out yourself,” Lanphere said. “Then all you have to do is paint it or have someone else paint it.”
•contact Quality Printing to buy a plywood nutcracker with various finishing options. There are several design options, but orders must be placed by Oct. 13
Lanphere said she expects several benefits of the nutcracker Christmas effort.
“Luverne should get some great press about this project and bring people from surrounding communities to see just what we are doing,” she said, adding that it will encourage patrons to visit businesses.
“This project is family-friendly and it will give people something fun to do, at any time during the month. … This will give Luverne a holiday theme, and as we go forward in the future, if the city, businesses or homeowners need to replace their holiday decoration, they can look to build on the nutcracker theme, so over time Luverne can be ‘all things nutcracker.’”