'Who-Ville Kamloops' seeing record numbers to start the season

It looks like all the residents in the River City have had their hearts grow three sizes to start the Christmas season!

That Grinch-like phenomenon is most-likey due to the rise in popularity of "Who-Ville Kamloops." Though Sue Adams, the wife to the Mayor of Who-Ville, doesn't know the exact number of residents who have come through, she knows they have come in record numbers to see the town located at 1864 Dickenson Road.

"What we do is when people come in, there are little bags of popcorn and hot chocolate, and when they leave there are little bags of green jelly beans," said Adams. "We spent our day yesterday putting all that together for the remaining two weeks... When we were done last night, everything was gone."

"So our expectations have been exceeded, there are times that you can bring people through, you turn around and look, and there is another group of 30 that have walked in the door."

Adams adds that Who-Ville has always been about donating to the Literacy Kamloops. This year, the town is well on its way to crushing its goal of donating 1,000 children's books to the organization.

"How this originally started was that one of our sons had created a Dr. Seuss treehouse in the backyard for our granddaughter. Once this came on board, we took it through a little bit more and went 'this is the perfect fit to try and raise some awareness for Literacy Kamloops.' So we asked people when they came into Who-Ville to bring us a new or gently used book that could be donated to Literacy Kamloops."

"Last year in January, we went with 552 books and over $200 in cash. This year, we've done three nights and already blown that record out. It's been just exceptional. People last night were showing up with boxes of books. Not just a book, boxes of books."

Residents who want to be a "who down in Who-Ville" can expect free hot-cocoa, snacks, and activities. The main attraction, besides the town itself, is a large screen that plays "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

"When you come into Who-Ville, you grab your hot chocolate, you grab your popcorn, you go wander around the yard, and then you can sit down by the firepit on a hay-bale and watch the original Grinch cartoon that we play on a projector in the front of the house."

Who-Ville's hours of operations are from 6 to 9 pm every weekend. Those looking to check it out only have six nights left to do so!