HOLIDAYS ON MAIN STREET
December 2015 Main Street Matters
Many people’s holidays are all about traditions, and Texas Main Streets have plenty of those to offer. From magical lights to charitable toy drives to jolly parades to ice skating rinks deep in the heart of Texas—there’s never a shortage of ways to celebrate the season on Main Street. Although the season is full of good cheer, putting together happenings and events is not always conducive to creating peace on earth. To help, we asked two experienced Main Street managers to share their experiences surrounding their holiday tradition.
Center City Electric Light parade lights the way downtown
Written by Beth Duke, Main Street Manager, Center City of Amarillo, Inc., Population approx. 190,695
Almost every Main Street city has a holiday parade. That’s not big news, but every Main Street city is different.
In Amarillo, Center City of Amarillo, Inc., our Main Street organization, sponsors the Electric Light Parade.
Downtown Amarillo is very different from others. There are 20,000 people who work downtown or within five minutes of downtown. There are offices, banks, courthouses, and government buildings. There is not much retail yet, so a daytime parade would not work.
Amarillo National Bank’s float during the Electric Light Parade.
One of the many creative volunteers, Cindy Lou Who.
About 20 years ago, Center City decided its signature holiday event would be the Electric Light Parade. The parade starts at 6 p.m. on the first Friday in December. “It’s very dark at 6 p.m., so every float must be lighted or glow,” Duke said.
In the first few years, the parade was only about one block long. If you blinked, you might miss it. Now the parade has become a tradition with more than 80 floats in 2014.
Sponsorships have helped the parade grow. Xcel Energy, the Panhandle’s electric utility, became the title sponsor in 2005. Then in 2008, Golden Spread Electric Cooperative became the prize sponsor.
“The title sponsor provides seed money for the expenses. Then we can keep the entry fees low for participants. Businesses pay $35 and nonprofits and churches pay $25. All first responders and elected officials are our guests,” Duke said. Sponsorships for the Electric Light
Parade were easy to find. Center City targeted companies in the electric business. The top cash prize for Best of Show is $350, which encourages creativity in using the lights and the theme.
At the end of the parade, Center City sponsors a musical program and awards the prizes. Then the mayor and city council light the city Christmas tree. The partnership with the city of Amarillo and the Parks and Recreation Department helped build the event into a success.
Amarillo Main Street Manager, Beth Duke (on left) and McDonald’s local owner Jill Dana (on right) pose with Ronald McDonald.
Challenges for a holiday parade event include:
- Getting volunteers at busy holiday time. Center City gets creative with Christmas stocking favors for volunteers. Because most people are wearing heavy coats, you could not see t-shirts, so we give out blinking hats.
- Winter weather can be a challenge. Temperatures have ranged from a mild 50 degrees to freezing. One year, city crews chipped out ice so the horses wouldn’t slip. We have only had to cancel one year, when windchill factors were predicted in the negative numbers.
- Santa. We have only had to fire one Santa in 20 years. Working with Santa is not always jolly.
The Electric Light Parade welcomes the holiday season for Amarillo. Center City is proud to offer this as a gift to the community complete with a free visit to Santa for every child.
Marshall Wonderland of Lights Festival embraces 40 days of holiday fun
Written by Sarah O’Brien, Main Street Manager, Marshall Main Street Program, Population approx. 23,523
Perhaps nothing is as synonymous with Marshall, Texas as the Wonderland of Lights Festival. Not only does the month-long event draw residents downtown for Christmas festivities, tourists from across the United States come to Marshall to make us a part of their holiday stop.
Our Wonderland of Lights guest book is peppered with signatures from visitors from across the United States and various countries around the world who come to see our beautiful historic Harrison County Courthouse adorned with twinkling lights and hear the myriad live and festive music.
On the festival’s inaugural year in 1987, the courthouse was the first thing that was lit. From there, it was quickly embraced by residents who started decorating the outside of their homes in flocks, creating Wonderland’s first great attraction, and neighborhood after neighborhood of shiny Christmas lights.
As the festival picked up speed, attractions were added to complement the Wonderland spirit and build momentum to encourage more attendance. Among attractions that were added was the famous East Texas ice skating rink, which sits in the center of the festival near the
courthouse. Sitting in the square watching the lights sparkle on the courthouse with the ice rink in the background is a scene that lends itself to a Norman Rockwell setting.
When Wonderland first started, there were no restaurants and little to no downtown retail, but today there are eight restaurants (including two bars), as well as several retail stores and a yoga studio. A lot of our downtown businesses get the most traffic during the Wonderland season.
Estimates are that 40 percent of annual sales come during the month-long festival.
Unfortunately, at some point along the way the festival hit a wall. Families could no longer spend the weekend in downtown Marshall because stores started closing early, restaurants did not stay open, and activities for the families stopped being employed. After years of operating in the red, something had to be done if the festival was going to survive, so the city of Marshall made the commitment to keep it alive despite the $500,000 of debt that had been accrued.
When the city took over Wonderland, assets were liquidated and a “back to basics” approach was employed. Our historic courthouse was still
decked in twinkling lights, and our ice skating rink—although in poor shape—still operated through the season. While many residents and some tourists were disappointed that there were fewer activities for children, the city accomplished their goal of keeping the festival alive with minimal
funds. Employees from across the city picked up slack where they could, working the ticket booth, volunteering with Santa and Mrs. Claus in Santa’s workshop, and a million other areas where people were needed to make the festival efficient and functional.
Since I joined the City of Marshall as the tourism and promotions director in May, I have steadily been learning more and more about this 40-day festival and why it is so cherished. We knew we needed to add more to this year in order to keep the momentum going! In addition to the usual
ice rink that’s downtown for festival-goers, we have also added a carousel, train, and much-needed new compressor for the ice rink, which should keep the ice frozen and solid (which has been an issue in years past).
I have also done a lot of rapport building with all of our retailers and restaurants in an effort to ensure that they would make this year a successful Wonderland season! In order for us to do that, we are not allowing any outside food vendors to set up on the square because our main goal is to
drive traffic into our downtown businesses. We have many wonderful restaurants our tourists are going to love!
In addition to all of the wonderful nightly activities we will have, Thursday to Saturday every week we will have Santa’s Workshop, where kids can decorate cookies and make “reindeer” food—and of course meet Santa and Mrs. Claus. Kids can also call to talk to Santa throughout the Christmas season at (903) 930-1578 (he answers the phone as Santa every time!) There will also be face painting, live entertainment, and Happy the Clown making balloon creations.
Embracing the Wonderland spirit, we needed more than the traditional activities throughout the week, so why not have a special event every weekend to really draw tourists and traffic to our wonderful downtown businesses! We’re so excited about this year’s festival, and we’re looking forward to all of the wonderful visitors who will make the trek to Marshall to see our efforts at work!
The famous East Texas ice skating rink, which sits in the center of the festival
near the courthouse.
Local residents and tourists visit downtown to see the the Harrison County
Courthouse adorned with twinkling lights and hear live, festive music.
Take a private carriage ride and tour downtown Marshall.
Check out Santa’s Workshop where you can make “reindeer” food and get your picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Special Events Schedule
Dec. 5: Jingle Bell Run, 8:30 a.m.,
Lighted Christmas Parade, 6 p.m.
Dec. 12: Wonderland of Cars, 1-5 p.m.
Dec. 19: Wonderland of Sights, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Dec. 26: Visit Santa’s Reindeer, 12-3 p.m.
Ticket Prices
Train Rides: $5
Carousel Rides (ages 0-12): $2
Carousel Rides (Adult): $3
Carousel Rides Season Pass for Children: $30
Carousel Rides Season Pass for Adults: $50
Train Ride Season Pass: $50
Private Carriage Rides: $60
Private Sleigh Rides: $75 weekday/$90 weekend
Wagonette Rides: $15
Ice Skating: $10 per person for 40 minute sessions
Each Tuesday during the festival we will have industry night, where we offer half off to certain industries.
The schedule is as follows:
Dec. 8: Military
Dec. 15: Medical
Dec. 22: Teachers
Dec. 29: First Responders