Businesses, community plan for annual Christmas festivities

The Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce is expecting 20 floats in Friday’s Christmas Jubilee Lights Parade, which adds to the list of different events planned for the square.

Twelve different business on the square are slated to stay open later with special sales and entertainment.

“We’ve got quite a few entries,” said Manda Park, Chamber manager. “The high school and junior high choirs will be playing on the square as a part of the activities.”

The parade is scheduled to start lining up at 6 p.m. on Avenue C and 18th Street and begin at 6:30 p.m. Businesses on the square will be open from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. with specials for customers to check out while they wait for the parade.

“Only three stores are doing the live window displays,” Nicole Wilkening community affairs manager said. “Valley Furniture is doing a live window display and pictures with Santa.”

Pictures with Santa are $5 for a wallet size photo.

The Main Place is staging a special holiday presentation from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wilkening said they are having a special sale and decorating their windows. Another business, Fashion Girl, will have a live window display and Woody’s Jewelry is featuring a make yourself a Christmas list sale, said Wilkening.

After the parade, the new little miss merry christmas will be crowned out of the 20 contestants in the running. The chamber is taking entries for floats up to Friday.

Michele Robertson. who owns Herstands Floral and Gifts, is participating in the parade for first time. Robertson they are in the parade because of her 3-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn.

“She enjoys riding on the horse-drawn carriage,” Robertson said. “She loves and it will be a lot of fun. We have a lot of fun with Aulton Rose and his horse Boomer and going to the parades riding in a carriage.”

Rose is the owner of Boomer & Company and is helping out the floral shop.

“We always have a sponsor when we ride in a parade,” Rose said. “I don’t charge that much. We do a lot of charity work. I bought Boomer about 3 or 4 years ago and the carriage, so this is kind of a retirement gig.”