Are you still looking for that perfect Christmas gift for that special person?  Then visit the European Style Christmas Market at the Szilagyi Center in Rowlesburg the second Saturday in December.  The hours will be from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. For more information about this year's event CLICK HERE.

The Annual Christkindlmarkt, or Christmas Market, under the direction of Maggie Deweirdt, is sponsored by the Rowlesburg Revitalization Committee who host the annual event. This is Preston County’s biggest Christmas celebration!

You will find vendors galore with great Christmas Gift items. There will be music, food, lots of food, Christmas decorations and crafts. The auditorium will be filled with aromas of the famous German Christmas stolen, cookies, decorated cakes and various candies made by well known local candy makers—hardtack, fudge, etc. All of this and Emporium Gift Shop at the Szilagyi Center will be open. Admission is free, however, a canned food donation for the food pantry would be greatly appreciated. What better way to get into the Christmas spirit?

Outside the entrance to the auditorium visitors will first encounter the irresistible smells of bratwursts. Gluewein, the traditional European drink in winter, will be available for the adults to sample.

The Syilagyi Center museums will be open. Visitors can see the priceless collection of antique model railroad bridges and handmade model trains on loan to the Tourism Commission of Rowlesburg from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore. The collection fills an entire room and then some. Several bridge models were used to cross the Cheat Valley.

Open also will be the WWII Museum. This collection of dozens of fully uniformed mannequins with hand-molded features plus thousands of period artifacts is a world-class exhibit. The WWII Museum alone is worth a trip to Rowlesburg. It is especially poignant during the Christmas Season. So many of our local young men were in uniform several Christmases in Europe and Asia. The home lights were kept burning and Christmas took on a meaning that carries over to this day. 

The beautifully decorated little River Town is rolling out the red carpet. Merry Christmas to all!