20th Annual Christmas on MacArthur Returns 

12.2025

It was a rare day, an exceptional day. Temperature just right; cool, but not frigid. Sky above; thinly clouded, not oppressive.

Literally thousands turned out for the 20th Annual Christmas on MacArthur, which is really (and always has been) about three things—collecting toys for Toys-for-Tots, creating a kid-friendly atmosphere celebratory of the holidays, and offering artisans and entrepreneurs a space to sell their wares. And this, too: it highlights why Bellevue is, as one resident recently told me, her “favorite neighborhood on Earth.”

The event on December 13, which ran from ten until two in the afternoon, is now sponsored by the Bellevue Civic Association. 

The culminating beauty of it all was that more 3,000 toys were collected for the U.S. Marines’ yearly toy drive. And each toy will surely bring a smile to the face of a child. 

As Bob Kocher, founder of the event, put it: “Christmas on MacArthur started twenty years ago as a neighborhood event for the children.” And so that tradition continues thanks to the hard work of many, among them Teri Phipps and David Schieferstein.

Christmas on MacArthur

4000 block MacArthur Avenue

Richmond,  VA 23227