Submitted Photo In 2022, Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco, center, signed a proclamation renaming the city ‘Elfkins’ for the entire month of December. Joining Marco was Lisa Wood, far left, former executive director of the Elkins-Randolph County Chamber; Scott Goddard, far right, former president of Elkins Main Street; and a pair of elves from the Old Brick Playhouse, Hannah Payne and Katie Varchetto.

ELKINS — For Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco, the Christmas season brings in a time for family, memories, reflection, miracles, local festivities and more.

“For us, church has always been a big part of the Christmas tradition,” Marco told The Inter-Mountain. “At the end of the day on Christmas Eve we always make sure we attend candlelight service.”

Christmas Eve is also a time for family for Marco, as they annually open presents at the home of the parents of his wife, Paula Marco, as well as order a pizza for dinner from a local restaurant. As Marco explained, ordering pizza just makes “life easier for everybody.”

On Christmas Day, traditions around food continue as Marco and his family enjoy his mother’s home-made lasagna. Marco explained that lasagna as the Christmas Day meal has been a tradition in his family for years as they are “not into the turkey and the ham stuff.”

Marco described this time of year as “magical” and as a time to look back on what you’ve been through in life, as well as give thanks for the blessings you have.

When asked what makes Christmas so special to him, Marco explained that it all goes back to the Christmases of his childhood, with church services, Christmas plays and a love of Christmas trees and twinkling lights. As Marco’s father used to say, “It’s the reason for the season.”

“I think it’s just the memories that I had growing up with my parents and just how special that time was for us to just sit and reflect on the blessings that we have,” Marco said. “We grew up in a very blessed family. I mean we weren’t rich, but we were comfortable and, as most parents, they tried to make Christmas better for us than they had when they were younger.”

Despite how very hectic Christmas can be for everyone, Marco said it’s also the best time to make a point of pausing and taking a breath to reflect. Marco credits his parents for instilling in him thankfulness and the desire to look out for those who are less fortunate.

Christmas has also brought some miracles to Marco and his family in the past. One Christmas Eve, as Marco and Paula were leaving for their church’s candlelight service, they came across a puppy.

“We’re thinking, ‘How terrible. Someone lost a dog on Christmas Eve. We’ll find the owner,'” Marco said. “Because Elkins is a relatively small town., you know everyone.”

However, after a week of no success in finding the puppy’s supposed owner despite talking to everyone they could, the Marcos decided it was meant to be that they keep the dog, who they named Scout. Scout was the Marcos family’s first dog and was a beloved member of the family for 13 years.

“That was the only time we missed candlelight service (on Christmas Eve), but it was worth it because Scout… rescued us that night,” Marco said. “Eventually we finally went, ‘Okay, we get it. It’s supposed to be ours.'”

As Elkins once again transforms into Elfkins for the holiday season, Marco says he’s very excited for this year’s festivities. The first of the events this year is the lighting of the Blue Spruce Christmas tree on Nov. 29 at the Darden Garden next to Elkins City Hall.

This is the second year for the “Blue Christmas Celebration in Elfkins,” which honors members of the Elkins City Police and Elkins Fire Department for their service.

“Our officers and our firemen and our EMS guys, all our first responders, truly appreciate (the celebration),” Marco said. “I want to keep this tradition going if we can.”

On Dec. 5, the annual Jingle All the Way parade will travel through downtown Elkins, followed by the first lighting of the new 22-foot community Christmas tree at the Rotary Amphitheater in Elkins Town Square. Marco said he was “very excited” for the new tree, calling it “beautiful.”

Elkins first became Elfkins in 2022 after volunteers from the Mayor’s Office, the Old Brick Playhouse, Augusta, Elkins Main Street, Our Town Inc., Davis & Elkins College and the Elkins-Randolph County Chamber joined forces with downtown businesses to plan holiday events and activities throughout the month of December. Since then, Elfkins has continued to expand and become an annual mainstay.

“The Elfkins theme continues to grow,” Marco said. “Chelsea Ruby, the Secretary of Tourism for the State of West Virginia, loves this and actually wants to help us tell our story about how Elfkins came about, and she wants to make Elkins a Christmas destination.”

When asked what he was reflecting on this Christmas as 2025 begins to come to an end, Marco admitted that this year has been a challenging one with personal losses and the ongoing closure of Elkins City Hall after a sewage overflow incident in August 2024. However, Marco was not deterred, highlighting just some of the changes that have come or will come to Elkins.

“Like I said, it’s been a challenging year, but it’s also been a very exciting year,” Marco said. “I think the maple leaves (lights) downtown were a nice addition in the fall. The Event Center, watching it go up and knowing it’s going to be open in late spring, and Augusta (Heritage Center) moving downtown. So many positive things… It’s just an exciting time for Elkins right now. Reflecting back, we’re doing some really good things.”

The Inter-Mountain photo by Taylor McKinnie
Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco and wife, Paula Marco, walk through the Jingle All the Way Parade in 2024.