Small Town, Big Spirit – The Town of Inlet is gearing up for a festive holiday season with an array of activities ranging from the community’s first annual “Shop with a Cop” event for six lucky Inlet children to a “champagne bus” to help Inlet area residents and visitors ring in the New Year in a fun and safe manner. Please see below for a roundup of holiday events.

Inlet’s Tree of Bells

For many years, Mary Marleau organized a giving tree of sorts out of the Inlet Town Hall, calling it the “Tree of Bells.” The tree helped several families and individuals over the course of many years. Last year, Inlet Tourism Director Adele Burnett resurrected the Tree of Bells with the help of Julie Meeks (Nelson), and it was a great success. Inspired by the needs of the community and the generosity of that same community, Adele and Julie are coordinating the Tree of Bells once again this holiday season.

How it works: Families, couples and individuals who could use some extra love and help this holiday season are nominated, anonymously. The nominees are then contacted to see if they are interested in participating – if so, they provide some clothing sizes, needs, interests and toy/present ideas. Those ideas are placed on bells, which are placed on a Christmas tree located in the Inlet Town Hall Lobby. People are also welcome to nominate themselves or their own family. The Tree of Bells is open for anyone located from Woodgate to Raquette Lake (and all areas in between.)

Folks from the community are asked to come choose a bell (or 2) and then shop for the items on the bell. People tend to buy anywhere from 2  to 4 gifts per bell. Those gifts are then brought to the Town Hall, unwrapped. Adele, Julie and their team of elves will wrap the gifts and some other special elves will deliver those gifts a few days before Christmas. If you are interested in filling a bell, there are still some left on the tree. Please come visit the Inlet Town Hall or contact Adele and/or Julie for assistance. Julie’s contact information is (704) 223-7512 and Adele’s contact information is (315) 369-8830.

If you live out of town or are out of the area, but want to participate, please let Adele or Julie know and they will make accommodations. Many people donating are not in town right now, which is amazing, according to Adele Burnett.

“Thank you to everyone who has already helped, [as] this means so much to the people receiving,” Burnett said. “And lastly, if you know of someone who needs nominating, let us know!”

Inlet’s First “Shop with a Cop” Event

Thanks to Sergeant Lindfield, the Inlet Youth Commission and Fulton Chain Trifecta, six Inlet children will get a chance to “Shop with an Inlet Cop” on Thursday, December 15 . Each child will be given $100 and will go shopping for gifts for their family at the Inlet Department Store/ACE Hardware with members of the Inlet Police Department. Afterwards, they will head over to the Inlet Town Hall where they will be able to wrap up their gifts and snack on pizza, compliments of Screamen Eagle.

The Inlet Youth Commission and the Inlet Police Department hope to make this an annual event, according to Inlet Tourism Director Adele Burnett. Find out more about the Inlet Youth Commission at inletny.com/inlet/inlet-youth-commission

Inlet’s Champagne Bus Returns on New Year’s Eve

The Champagne Bus will be running on New Year’s Eve, creating a safe way for folks to enjoy the parties in the Inlet/Eagle Bay area. The Inlet Area Business Association has hired a passenger bus through Hale Transportation for this evening. Thank you to the following for helping to make this happen: Burkhard-Evans, Daiker’s, Great Pines, Screamen Eagle, The Tavern, Tony Harper’s of Inlet, and The Woods Inn.

The bus will start running at 8 p.m., and will continue looping throughout the night, making stops at the sponsoring establishments and wherever else needed in the Inlet/Eagle Bay area (as far as Daiker’s.) The last round of pickups will start before 2 a.m. This bus is free to ride, and people may get on or off at any time. If you live (or are staying somewhere) along this loop, you may call to be picked up from home. To schedule a pickup, please call Adele at (315) 369-8830 before 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 31.

To contact the bus directly, please call (315) 796-6247 between the hours of 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. (Please leave a message if there is no answer.)

Interested parties are welcome to reference https://www.inletny.com/ in order to keep tabs on upcoming events and programs happening in Inlet, NY.

Photo at top: Inlet’s Tree of Bells. Photo provided by Inlet Tourism Director, Adele Burnett.