Spreading that Christmas Spirit

      Comments Off on Spreading that Christmas Spirit
Share This Article

PreferredAperture [CC BY-SA 3.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons

‘Tis the season! Communities across the nation have been gearing up their Christmas celebrations. The festive activities that take place in each town in rural america provide a great amenity to the residents of the community. However, it is often a large task. One that can put a strain on your staff workload during the holiday season. Yet these efforts put forth a memorable experience for every resident and visitor to the community during this joyous time.

As we start to near the end of the holiday season, many communities will look back on the decorations and activities to assess what went wrong and where things could be improved. “Improvement,” a key word. To some this could mean slight tweaks, to others it would mean possible wholesale changes to make a significant impact. 

Regardless of the goals of improvement, it is always a good idea to look around at other communities to see where they’ve done things better. Or how they’ve been more efficient in hanging lights or holding an activity. This is not to say that your community should fully copy another’s activities or decorations, but rather look for little tweaks or adjustments that will make the joyest of times even better.

To that end, Arcadia Publishing has created a post about what they believe are the 14 Best Small-Town Christmas Celebrations and Light Shows.

Nevada City, California

One of the 14 is Nevada City, a small town located northeast of Sacramento, California. Each year they have a Victorian-style Christmas with clothing and events that are a throwback to that era. They also have a vendors area down the center of the road in their downtown, lit up and bustling with people in the night air. Though not as viable in the northern portions of the country, it does remind you of our previous post in another recent post, Night Markets – Something a Little Different.

Santa Claus, Indiana

Then there’s Santa Claus, Indiana. Yes, a town is actually called Santa Claus and they’ve taken that name and run with it. On top of letting kids write letters to Santa, they also let you have “Christmas Dinner with Santa”. The long event list even includes a “Dancer’s Dash 5k Run”.

Sarah Afshar [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

Bedford, Virginia

Some towns have a tree lighting ceremony, Bedford has a Festival of Trees. Each year a theme is selected and a number of trees are decorated by local businesses and organizations in that theme. Visitors can then vote for their favorite tree for a dollar per vote. Proceeds benefit charitable organizations designated by the businesses.

Canton, Mississippi

In Canton, Mississippi they too have a long list of events, including the Annual Sip N’ Cider. An event where every store around Canton Square brews up their own recipe of hot cider to serve to shoppers. After sampling the cider and other tasty treats, shoppers get to vote on who wins the cider competition.

Sure, most of the activities that you’ll read about in 14 Best Small-Town Christmas Celebrations and Light Shows won’t be viable for your community. But there may something, some small enhancement like roasting chestnuts outside or encouraging local businesses to put out hot cider during your tree lighting ceremony, that makes your community’s event better next year.