T-L Photos/GAGE VOTA Ohio Valley residents wait in line in hopes to receive their swag bags that are awarded to the first 200 shoppers in the door of the Ohio Valley Mall.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The holiday spirit was in the air at the Ohio Valley Mall.

The annual tradition of Black Friday kicked off at 6 a.m., with several Ohio Valley residents lining up hours prior to the event.

Ohio Valley Mall Marketing Director Candi Noble-Greathouse said that the first 200 shoppers received “swag bags” filled to the brim with gift sets from various mall tenants, as well as a randomly awarded surprise.

“One bag has a voucher for a $200 mall gift card,” Noble-Greathouse said. “We have a $100 gift card and a couple $50 gift cards that’s all part of the swag bag, but inside everybody’s swag bag is a chocolate bar that is worth $10 or more, that will mostly be Ohio Valley Mall gift cards.”

She added that gift cards from Buffalo Wild Wings, Longhorn Steakhouse and Osaka were also available as prizes.

The customers receiving “swag bags” were instructed to go to customer service at the center court to redeem the candy bar to see what prize they were rewarded.

“One of the winners will be a $500 Ohio Valley Mall gift card,” Noble-Greathouse said. “So although they have until December 31 to claim their prizes, most do it right away to see what they won and to see how much money they can spend or if they’re the big winner. But everything is at least $10 or more.”

Shoppers Hailey Ullom and Elizabeth Barath waited in line together from 9:30 pm on Thanksgiving Thursday.

“We heard about the swag bags and she (Barath) wanted the surprise and then Bath and Body Works has some good deals happening,” Ullom said.

Barath added that while waiting in the line during the night it began to snow heavily, which neither of them appreciated.

Even though the mall was open at 6 a.m., Five Below opened at 7 a.m. The cold weather didn’t stop Jamie Deaton and her family from holding down the fort in line at Five Below. Deaton said that she was on a mission for Squishmallows. After securing the stuffed toys, she said maybe they would continue Black Friday shopping.

Shopper Angela Goettel said she has been participating in shopping during Black Friday for at least the past 20 years. She added that she is attending this year’s sale with her friends and family.

“We left at 4 a.m. and got here at about 4:30 a.m. or 5 a.m.,” she said, “and once we all get here we’ll all go our own way and do all of our shopping.”

Another attraction during the festive morning was DJ Daner who played all of the classic Christmas songs at the center of the mall from 6 a.m. until noon. A new addition to the mall’s Black Friday was the inclusion of live music provided by the six-piece brass band the Brasset Hounds. The band began playing at 12:45 p.m. to get all of the shoppers in the holiday mood.

Noble-Greathouse said that throughout the entire weekend mall employees will be walking around and handing out exclusive Ohio Valley Mall Black Friday shirts to people they feel are showcasing their holiday spirit in things such as festive sweaters and costumes.

The Ohio Valley Mall’s newest attraction is the winner of the St. Clairsville Area Chamber of Commerce and Ohio Valley Mall’s Small Shop Showdown, The Holey Rollers Donut Truck. The donut shop won six months of free rent from the contest and is using Black Friday as its soft opening.

“We’re officially open today,” Holey Rollers Owner and Operator Jeremy Pasztor said.

“We’ll have a ribbon-cutting ceremony, but they wanted to get us in here for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.”

Holey Rollers is a family-owned and operated venture with Pasztor and his daughters Lili Heartline and Solar Pasztor working together to create the possibility of working for themselves.

“I’m just happy to be able to work with my dad and sister again,” Heartline said. “It’s just one of our things that we love to do together and have our own business together.”

The Holey Roller Donut shop is located at the mall’s former Subway location.