Hometown gifts for the holidays: McHenry County towns featured in locally themed merchandise

Merchandise that celebrates Crystal Lake, Woodstock and other McHenry County communities is taking the concept of shopping local even further this holiday season.

Woodstock, through its local chamber of commerce, has unveiled a 2023 holiday ornament featuring the Old Courthouse Center.

The ornament kicks off what officials hope will become an annual series, fittingly debuting with the Old Courthouse Center, which also debuted this year following a renovation.

“It just seemed like a natural fit,” Brad Ball of the Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.

This year, there are 500 ornaments in circulation, available at the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center inside the Old Courthouse and at local Woodstock businesses.

Forged and Formed, a sister company of Studio D Jewelers on the Woodstock Square, made the ornaments.

Wayne Read, of Studio D Jewelers, said the shape of the image factored into the design. He said this year’s ornaments are made of aluminum, but he might consider pewter, slate and glass in future years.

The city “wanted to highlight the Old Courthouse Center,” Read said, adding the feedback he’s gotten about the ornaments has been positive.

“They’re really, really excited about it,” Read said.

The Woodstock Chamber Visitors Center also features other products such as Real Woodstock T-shirts and tote bags, andsome “Groundhog Day”-themed T-shirts and other Groundhog merch.

Elsewhere in the county, mugs unique to Cary and Crystal Lake can be found at Conscious Cup coffeeshop locations, which debuted last holiday season.

“They’re pretty popular,” Conscious Cup managing partner Michael Shipley said. He estimates they have sold “hundreds and hundreds” of the mugs.

The memorable places on the mugs intertwine with Conscious Cup’s goal to be in the memories of local residents, Shipley said.

The mugs are created by artist Ashley Klockenga, who has many childhood memories of visiting the city and the beach. She now lives in northern Ontario, Canada, with her husband, Matt, who was raised in Crystal Lake.

“I grew up going to the beach throughout the summers,” she said. “My husband and I always wondered if we met at the beach as kids.”

Her primary inspirations for the Crystal Lake mug was Main Beach and the history of the Dole Mansion. Her inspiration for Cary’s design was its charming and historic downtown.

Klockenga has taken her custom mugs to several other Chicago-area towns such as St. Charles and DeKalb to partner with other local coffee shops.

Conscious Cup has collaborated with local artists with shirts, stickers and other merchandise, Shipley said.

“We’ll continue to do that,” he said. “It’s a fun part of being part of the community.”

A town-specific Monopoly board game based on Cary can be found at local Walgreens stores. The board is reimagined with stops at iconic events and locations such as Cary’s cruise nights and Rotary Park.

Kitchen Outfitters in downtown Crystal Lake sells locally branded wine caps and jar openers, while nearby shop Out of the Box offers tote bags, ornaments, shirts, mugs, water bottles and more emblazoned with local pride.

For Marengo fans, the Marengo-Union Chamber is Commerce sells commemorative plates of its annual festival, Settlers Days.