Plainview Christmas festivities kick off Thursday night with parade
The next few days are sure to be festive and full of Christmas activities in Plainview.
The fun kicks off Thursday night downtown, centered around the annual Parade of Lights down Broadway. The parade will start at 6:30 p.m. at Second and Broadway near Broadway Park and proceed north down Broadway to 12th Street. The parade, presented by the Plainview Chamber of Commerce, is themed "The Music of Christmas." All entries will have lights and floats will be judged on various criteria for prizes.
The Plainview High School band and Santa and Mrs. Claus will make an appearance in the parade. Notably, no candy or other items will be thrown along the parade route this year.
Public parking for the parade is available at City Hall, Unger Memorial Library, Seventh and Austin, along Ash Street and portions of Broadway. Parking spots on Broadway between Fifth and Eighth streets will be blocked.
Before the parade steps off, the Hale County Literacy Council will hold a story time with Santa Claus reading "How the Crayons Saved Christmas" by Monica Sweeney and illustrated by Wendy Leach. This event will take place at the Fair Theater, 717 Broadway, at 5 p.m. and is open to children of all ages. Claus will be available for photos and a meet-and-greet after the reading. Each family that attends will receive a free copy of the book.
Immediately following the parade, Wayland Baptist University is hosting a reception titled "Lighting Up Wayland" on the steps of historic Gates Hall, 1900 W. Seventh St.
Wayland will serve free Frito pies, s'mores, coffee, hot chocolate and Christmas cookies from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. Keeping with the "Music of Christmas" theme, the event will include the university's International Choir performing holiday favorites. Children get to join in by singing along on a couple of songs, and Santa will make an appearance here as well.
The university will turn on its Christmas lights in a special ceremony, and Wayland President Bobby Hall will read the Christmas Story from the Bible before the hall is lit.
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Saturday morning, community members will have an opportunity to share breakfast with Santa at the Ollie Liner Center. The event, hosted by Runningwater Draw RSVP and Hale County 4-H, will include breakfast, a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus, a gift sack of goodies, face painting and other crafts, and door prizes.
The breakfast runs from 9 to 10:30 a.m. and is $5 per child with an option for parents to purchase breakfast for an additional $5 each. Tickets may be purchased at the door and are also available in advance at the RSVP office, 825 Austin St.
Finally, 50 Nativity scenes from all over the world are on display at the Mabee Regional Heritage Center. The museum, located on the Wayland campus, are displaying just a small portion of the 900 sets collected by Lockney's Carolyn Cunningham.
“These 50 Nativity scenes are from all around the world,” said KayLyn Bean, director of museums at Wayland. “The cultures of the different countries are easily seen in each set. They are made from all different types of materials like straw, rolled newspaper, gourds and interesting things like that.”
Cunningham’s fascination with nativity scenes began in the late 1980s when she purchased a beautifully painted metal nativity scene at a religious bookstore in Amarillo, according to the museum. Soon she was buying nativity scenes at gift shops and through catalogues. After a while, she realized she had created a unique collection, and that collection keeps growing.
“She brought her favorites to us,” Bean said. “She brought as much as we could fit into our display cases. Hopefully this is something we can bring back each year with different pieces.”
The Nativity scenes are on display from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday through the end of January. The museum will be closed for Christmas break Dec. 17 through Jan. 3. Admission is free.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Plainview Christmas festivities kick off Thursday night with parade
