Montclair Village Holiday Stroll to bring community together Dec. 7

During this holiday season that swings between geopolitical chaos and communities worldwide honoring and rejoicing in their traditions, the upcoming 21st annual Montclair Village Holiday Stroll is cause for celebration.

Offering in-person connections, strong local small business and vendor support and enthusiastic participation from residents, schools, community groups, artists and visitors, the Montclair Village Association (MVA) is hosting the annual stroll from 4 to 8 p.m. Dec. 7 (montclairvillage.com/holiday-stroll-2).

In 2023, the stroll is reminiscent of festive tributes in small towns and villages across the globe where people for centuries have gathered to cherish friends, family members and neighbors. An atmosphere infused with the spirit of generosity welcomes strangers, and people pause long enough to launch new friendships, find novel ways to support local merchants and express gratitude for the public event’s safety, now enhanced with Montclair Village’s inclusion of two hew holiday security guards, or “safety ambassadors.”

J.D. Nannery and Allen Gaters, of Diamond Strategic Solutions, have extensive private security experience and as of Nov. 24 are conducting daytime walking and overnight security patrols through Dec. 31.

Among other assistance, the safety ambassadors will escort shoppers to parked vehicles, monitor situations of concern and direct any incidents needing greater security to the proper city of Oakland and Alameda County authorities. In a phone interview, Nannery says collaborating with the MVA is the primary element causing him to serve in his ambassador role.

“They want — and I want — whoever comes out to feel safe. In this day and age, that’s a hard thing to do.”

To best equip himself for the task, Nannery has been talking not only with the MVA board and its members but with merchants and residents. He said he has heard shop owners’ concerns for staff walking to banks for deposits and for customers going to their vehicles or homes.

Nannery said his main goal is “to get people out safely so they can shop and support the local economy and prevent small businesses from shuttering.” During his decades of security service, he said he has found that a handful of elements are key.

“First, we’re easily identifiable by uniform but approachable because we’re in polos and khakis and jackets with security identity patches, not the usual all-blue-with-weapons gear,” he said. “Secondly, we’re there to help, to intervene, but the biggest part is to talk to people.

“Not in a loud voice to compel people to do what we want, not standing with arms crossed looking mean. But introducing ourselves in conversations with shop owners or saying ‘hi’ to everyone who passes me by. Just that will maybe put a smile on the face of someone when they’re having a terrible day.”

Nannery says he learned from his grandfather to treat everyone with respect until caused to do otherwise. De-escalation, he insists, is about listening and responding calmly, until a person or a group feels seen, heart rates drop and everyone takes a deep breath — including the security guard.

“That’s why Diamond Strategic has placed employing the right people in the forefront. We want to change people’s ideas about what security can mean to people.”

Of course, the Montclair Village Holiday Stroll is more than just a demonstration of safety. It’s a special time in which people like Red Oak Realty’s Ilan Penson and Marissa Verson Harrison shed their professional real estate agent shoes and kick up their heels.

Leading flash mobs and mucking it up with kids during arts-and-craft activities, the duo are rapidly becoming regulars in the Family Fun Zone at village events. Penson brings decades of experience working in sales and marketing with Fortune 100 companies to her year-old position as a real estate agent.

“I was interested in combining my work and personal lives; to be connected to my local community as part of my professional and personal day,” she says. “What keeps me in real estate are the relationships I’ve made and nurturing those connections.”

Having lived and raised her family in Piedmont Pines for the past 12 years, Penson has often participated in events like the holiday stroll. Seeking to expand the stroll’s celebratory elements, treasuring the opportunities to run into friends she hasn’t seen in months or even years, Penson says personal connections made or reaffirmed add to a dynamic atmosphere everyone can enjoy.

“We all have our day-to-day grind, but having these events you get to put that aside. You can drop the responsibilities and be present and appreciate our terrific weather, great shops, old and new friendships. It’s jovial, lighthearted, engaging, care-free.”

All of that certainly ring true of the plans she and Harrison have made. The craft activity is meant to appeal to all generations and traditions with scratch art Christmas trees, Hanukkah dreidels and other ornaments. Scratching away the black coating on paper cut-outs reveals a rainbow of colors, creating lightweight decorations that can be displayed anywhere.

“The flash mob is separate,” says Penson. “Marissa is part of a hip-hop group at the Oakland Hills Tennis Club — they’ve been together for 15 years — and they’re planning and leading the flash mob. The music is Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Underneath the Tree’ and another song that’ll be a surprise.”

Winter Williams, an MVA board member, founder of Winter Williams Presents, and one of the stroll’s nearly two dozen sponsors, says this year’s highlights will include live performances by local youth, school and community groups, professional Winter Wonderland photos with Santa Solas (510families.com/black-santa) taken by Leah Marie Studio (for $30), the “Random Acts Toy Drive” and Parade Rig hosted by the Oakland Fire Department, Disc Jump and Connect 4 game play hosted by Oakland Spiders, a Montclair Library selfie photo booth with props and more.

Williams says that most importantly the roughly 40 Montclair Village businesses that include 20 locally-owned and operated vendors will offer special sales and that the MVA, upon reaching its 75th anniversary, is issuing a 75-new-member challenge to mark the occasion.

Lou Fancher is a freelance writer. Reach her at lou@johnsonandfancher.com.