Small Town Holiday

I've lived in near the state capital and I've lived in medium cities but for somethings I think small towns just do it better. Not all things by any means but somethings like holiday celebrations, they excel in.

We went last night to the tree lighting celebration in Hookerton as vendors. We lucked out the weather cooperated and it was chilly (not cold) and clear. Overall it was a great night to be outside with friends.

I should have taken more pictures of things like the tree and the kids but I did get a couple of Santa. It was very neat, they had carriage rides around town for anyone who wanted to go, complete with jingle bells. Santa ended up coming in on the carriage, in prior years he has come on the firetruck. I liked the idea of the carriage a bit better. You could have your picture taken with Santa for free, FREE, does anyone do that anymore?

We were serenaded by wandering groups of small children singing carols with their elf hats. I think that is something I can put down for my Daisy/Brownie troop to do next year. I remember doing that with a church group when I was small and it was a ton of laughs. We made fruit and cookie baskets for the older members of the church and sang for them as they were delivered...but I diverge.

They had a local radio DJ keeping the festivities rolling, their were raffles and contests for kids, local church choirs and bands. A petting zoo with a donkey that loves kids and carrots, not necessarily in that order. I was informed by one of my Brownies that she had been concerned that this donkey had escaped from the live nativity scene at the church just down the road. I checked for her and assured her that they didn't have a real donkey just real people. She decided that donkey's tend to make a mess in the hay when they hang around for a while so that must have been why they didn't use them. I agreed. Disaster averted..

Do big cities have celebrations, sure they do. They have lights, they have people and they have all kinds of flashy stuff, what do small towns have? They have the homemade elf hats and cookies for the kids. Homemade fish stew and hushpuppies by the bucket. They have people who invite you to dinner and ask about your family and they really mean it. I am taking orders for Friendship Fruit Cakes and I'm afraid I am reaching the order limit already. I'm glad to know that we'll be apart of so many holiday celebrations. It's nice to be part of a community that values homemade and handcrafted items.

I will have to say I fall strongly in the category of scrooge rather than holiday elf. But even the grinch was won over, so maybe with a few more of these outings I might too change my tune about the holidays. We have another event in the community on the 12th, a Christmas Extravaganza, I might even wear a reindeer hat if the weather permits...

Here's a good one of the horse, he was a great sport about the whole thing, He must still be seeing flashes from all of the pictures that were taken. 

And a good picture of of our local Santa in his carriage. I wonder if Ms. Claus knows he is stepping out with an Elf this year..