HAMMOND | Cars jostled for parking spaces and families promenaded along Hohman Avenue in a scene straight out of Jean Shepherd's canon of short stories.

Customers picked over merchandise in a corner store adjacent to the Towle Community Theater being minded by Crown Point resident Sandy Sigler, who said she couldn't remember when she saw so many people "shopping and walking out of the store with bags."

The Hammond Downtown Council, City Hall and the South Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau celebrated the 25th anniversary of the release of the movie classic "A Christmas Story" with a free showing of the movie at The Towle in addition to themed displays and contests.

The movie draws on Shepherd's semiautobiographical compositions, set in a fictional town resembling Hammond in the late 1930s. It follows the comedic adventures of Ralphie Parker, who wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.

Schererville resident Lisa Willy said, "I put my daughters, Rachel and Amanda, in the Ralphie and Randy look-alike contest."

She said she was drawn to the event by nostalgia for a bygone Hammond.

"My mother was raised here, and I was born here. I originally saw the movie when it came out when I was in high school," Willy said.

Storefronts were dressed to resemble the movie's Higbee's, where Ralphie has a fateful meeting with the department store's Santa and elves.

Gary resident Kathy Dusseau brought her grandsons, Michael and Matthew Whiteside. Matthew said his favorite scene in the movie is when dogs belonging to Ralphie and Randy's neighbors broke into their house and "ate their turkey."

Karen Maravilla, president of the downtown council and the event's coordinator, said, "It's been a huge success. We sold out all our tickets for the movie. Kids are having a blast with Cabela's 'shoot your eye out' contest."

Hobart resident Molly Kappes said her son, Myles, was one of several children who won a pop gun by shooting a plastic dart through the eyeglasses of a celebrity cardboard cutout of Ralphie's head.

Myles said his favorite line in the movie is when Ralphie asks Santa for a BB gun and "Santa says, 'You'll shoot your eye out, kid.'"

Maravilla said it will be an annual event.