‘At Christmas time it is gorgeous’: Curley makes the case for Leavenworth in Hallmark’s Christmas town contest

Leavenworth is one of 25 finalists in Hallmark’s Merriest Christmas Town contest, with the winner receiving a “Merriest Christmas Town” designation and the chance to serve as a filming location for a future Hallmark movie. Public voting is open through Sept. 4, with a winner expected to be announced around Oct. 31.

KIRO host John Curley used part of “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio to rally support for the Bavarian-themed village in Chelan County, while also cheerfully roasting the Hallmark movie formula he said he loves.

“They say they’re very, very close to being able to come up with a second plot,” Curley said. “They are so bad, they’re great.”

Curley said he has a personal tradition around Hallmark Christmas movies.

“I get myself a great big joint. I fire that thing up, and I get just baked, and then I sit there with Nick on the couch and watch a Hallmark movie,” Curley said. “I’ll stop it, and I’ll just try to guess the next line. Oh my lord, they are so bad, they’re great.”

He pointed out the production shortcuts that give the films away.

“Most of the snow that you see floating around sometimes is just small bubbles,” Curley said. “They’re shooting those things in the summer, and you can see sometimes people like, ‘Wow, it certainly is cold.’ Of course, there’s no breath coming out of them.”

KIRO producer Paul Holden played the trailer for “Cloudy with a Chance of Christmas,” a 2022 rom-com shot in and set in Leavenworth. The plot: a weather woman clashes with a TV anchor, then falls for him. It did not surprise Curley.

“She falls in love with Drake,” Curley said. “Didn’t see that coming.”

Curley recaps how Leavenworth saved itself from becoming a ghost town

Curley said Leavenworth nearly disappeared after the mining industry left and community leaders made a bold bet on going fully Bavarian.

“Somebody got everybody together and said, ‘We’ve got two choices: We go out of business, this place becomes a ghost town, or people have often said those look like the Alps. Let’s make a commitment that the town will be Bavarian. Everything will be Bavarian,'” Curley said. “There were a few in the town that were like, ‘We’re not doing it. We think it’s a stupid idea.'”

He said he’s brought international friends who were unimpressed.

“I’ve taken friends there that are from those parts of the world, and they’re like, ‘Nice try,'” Curley said.

Curley praised the town’s decision to spread out its Christmas tree lighting across every weekend of the holiday season rather than holding a single event that caused massive backups.

“At Christmas time it is gorgeous,” Curley said. “It’s only an hour and a half away at the most, maybe two hours.”

Leavenworth is competing against 24 other towns, including Ashland, Oregon; Cape May, New Jersey; and Winter Garden, Florida. Voters can cast one ballot per day at Hallmark’s contest website.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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